Perhaps Northfork Electric’s best-known and most anticipated youth program, the Youth Tour is a week-long, allexpense- paid educational trip to Washington, D.C. in June of each year. NFEC annually sponsors two delegates from high schools within its service territory. Students travel with the Oklahoma delegation (70+ students) to our nation’s capital where they tour historic sites and national landmarks, meet Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, and more. Youth Tour has earned a reputation as “a trip of a lifetime” by former participants.
Selection of the four finalists will be based on the following guidelines: Students must currently be classified as eleventh graders attending a school in Northfork Electric Cooperative’s service area. It is not necessary that the student’s parents be members of NFEC.
Students must complete an entry form and prepare an essay of no more than 500 words on the following topic: Cooperatives operate according to the same set of seven cooperative principles. These principles are a key reason that America’s electric cooperatives, including Northfork Electric, operate differently from other electric utilities. In your opinion, what is the most important cooperative principle and why?
Deadline for all entries is Tuesday, January 7, 2025.
DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE ESSAY! Attach a completed entry form to your essay with a paperclip. Please make sure that it is neat and legible.
Use only one side of the paper, double space and number the pages.
Essays will be judged on knowledge of the subject, originality, composition, and grammar. You can use information from our website or any source you choose. Be original and factual.
Four finalists will be selected by a team of independent judges. Decisions of the judges are final.
Members of the immediate families and/or persons residing in the households of cooperative trustees, and/or employees of NFEC are not eligible to participate in the contest or serve as winners.
Any student classified as an 11th grader can participate. The four finalists will be required to attend NFEC’s Youth Tour banquet. The exact date of the banquet will be determined once the finalists are announced. It will be at the banquet where they will present their essays and be interviewed by a panel of independent judges. The top two students will be awarded the trip to Washington, D.C., and the two runners-up will attend the 2025 Leadership Summit and receive a $500 academic scholarship. More details will be provided to those selected for the banquet. The Youth Tour trip will be June 13-19, 2025.
The Leadership Summit is March 17, 2025 in conjunction with the Oklahoma Youth Expo. Students selected as Youth Tour delegates will also be expected to attend NFEC’s Annual Meeting at the Sayre City Park on August 16, 2025. For more details about the Youth Tour call Connie Ferrero at 580-928-3366 or visit https://www.nfecoop.com/ youth-tour.
