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Youth Tour 2023

  By: Steve Sokolowski, Marketing Associate

  Email: ssokolowski@sussexrec.com

It has been a bit over four years since I’ve been Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative’s Marketing Associate, and during that time I have heard a lot about Youth Tour. My manager Claudia has attended seven Youth Tour trips in her years with the Co-op, and I was set to chaperone the 2020 trip before the pandemic spoiled everyone’s plans. With SREC once again participating in 2023, it was my time to head to Washington, D.C. for what was promised to be one of the busiest weeks of my life.

My first hours as a chaperone were surreal. Early on Sunday, June 18th, I found myself driving out to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in a rental van, with Claudia riding shotgun and four local students in the back. Though they’re all from the same area, these high school juniors all attend different schools and didn’t know each other well. As a result, the three-and-a-half-hour ride was a quiet one. In Gettysburg we met a bus full of other students from all over Pennsylvania, along with chaperones from their local electric co-ops. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of this trip, and I’m sure most of the students felt the same way. But after a week together in Washington, D.C., I was amazed to see how close all the students had become and how positive my experience was as a chaperone.

What Is Youth Tour?

Before I get into the specifics of 2023’s trip, I’d like to introduce Youth Tour for those readers who haven’t heard of it before. Formally known as the National Rural Electric Youth Tour, this is a longstanding opportunity that rural electric cooperatives all over the country offer high school juniors. If a student lives in a home powered by a co-op, they are eligible to apply for this free, weeklong trip to Washington, D.C. The trip is coordinated by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) with the help of dozens of state-level directors that organize the activities their states’ groups participate in.

Youth Tour has been running since 1950 and Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative began participating in 1986. Each year roughly 1,800 students attend the trip, embracing the opportunity to explore our nation’s capital, meet their representatives, make connections with other students from all over the country, and also develop as leaders. One of our students, Bethann, was chosen as the Youth Leadership  Council student for New Jersey. She will have the opportunity attend NRECA’s Youth Leadership Conference and Annual Meeting to represent our state!

2023 Youth Tour

Four local students were selected for 2023’s Youth Tour: Dylan Barca from Vernon Township High School, Bethann Juhr from Sussex County Technical School, Madeline Kappelmeier from Pope John XXIII Regional High School, and Isaac Schuman from High Point Regional High School. Claudia and I had the pleasure of getting to know these students while they represented SREC’s membership, our community, and all of New Jersey.

As the only rural electric cooperative in New Jersey, SREC is part of the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association and joins Pennsylvania’s 13 co-ops for Youth Tour. This year, we also had one student from New York join us on the trip. Our PA-NJ-NY group consisted of 59 students among the sea of countless high school juniors from other states. Our group had 17 chaperones united behind our Youth Tour director Steph Okuniuewski. Steph has worked as a Youth Tour director for over a decade and did a fantastic job organizing our nonstop activities throughout the week, keeping everybody energized and motivated, and making sure everything ran smoothly.

By the time we arrived at our D.C. hotel on Sunday and began the night’s orientation events, the students on the trip were already a lot more comfortable with one another. I was inspired by how open and accepting of each other the students were and how quickly they embraced the opportunity to meet new people from all over the country. Youth Tour’s state pins helped with this – each state had specially designed pins and buttons for students to trade and collect. It served as a great ice breaker and, once you’ve built up a collection, a nice way to show off!

Throughout the rest of the week, students and chaperones alike were kept very busy. We visited many monuments and memorials, including the Pentagon Memorial. This memorial has a unique impact now that all high school juniors were born well after September 11th, 2001. Regardless, all of NJ, PA, and NY’s students conducted themselves respectfully and thoughtfully. The same went for our visits to other solemn locations like Arlington National Cemetery and the Holocaust Museum. I was very impressed with the maturity our students displayed while still being able to have fun during lighter activities like the Smithsonian and Udvar-Hazy museums, bowling at Pinstripes in Georgetown, and the Youth Day celebration where attending states’ students gathered for inspirational speeches, dinner, and dancing.

One key opportunity that Youth Tour provides students is the chance to meet their representatives. New Jersey’s students visited the office of Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who always makes time for SREC’s students on Youth Tour. This year, Congressman Gottheimer sat down with Dylan, Bethann, Maddie, and Isaac to answer their questions and explain how their local actions can have a national impact.

Beyond Youth Tour

While chaperoning Youth Tour was a lot of work featuring early mornings and late nights, always staying “on,” and never having enough caffeine, it was a deeply rewarding experience that I am honored to have been a part of. Each day’s schedule was full of unforgettable moments and lessons for the students, and as a first-time chaperone, I feel like I learned as much as the kids!

NJ’s students all had a blast and made great friends on the trip. I hope that this experience has had an impact on them that may inspire them for years to come. Many Youth Tour alumni have found themselves motivated to go to school or work in Washington, D.C. Some took on jobs with NRECA or local electric co-ops (including two chaperones I worked with on this trip). Numerous Youth Tour alumni go on to larger-than-life careers, including Apple CEO Tim Cook who credits Youth Tour with his first ever visit to Washington, D.C. You never know what kind of doors Youth Tour could open for your kid, or the connections they can make!

We always say that Youth Tour is a life-changing experience, and now I know firsthand that this is true. If I had known about the trip while I was a student at High Point, I would have jumped at the chance to attend! Instead, I’ll settle for the experience I had as a chaperone and everything that awaits in the years to come.

If you’re a member of SREC and have a child who’s soon to be a high school junior, I highly encourage you to look into this trip! The students I met on this trip came from all kinds of backgrounds and had very different personalities, and they all had a wonderful experience. As long as your child is open to learning new things, seizing opportunity, and expanding their horizons, they will get something valuable out of Youth Tour.

Applications for New Jersey’s Youth Tour group will open later this year. I hope that you keep this opportunity in mind for your own kids. You can visit www.njyouthtour.com to learn more!

Youth Tour 2023: The Students' Perspective

Youth Tour is a weeklong trip packed with unforgettable memories, new friendships, and nonstop activities in the capital of our nation. Three of the New Jersey students who attended Youth Tour in 2023 shared with us some of their highlights from the trip and the experiences that meant the most to them. If your child is interested in attending a future Youth Tour, visit www.njyouthtour.com for details on how to apply!

	“My favorite part about Youth Tour was meeting lots of new people from all over the country, touring D.C. and seeing all of the memorials and monuments, and listening to Claudia’s fun facts of the day! This trip was a great opportunity for me to learn about the electric cooperatives and how they work. It also allowed me to learn the history of our nation through the museums and many places we visited throughout the week.”
	“Some highlights for me were visiting the Pentagon Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier because they had a special, surreal feeling. There was an energy given that made me think back to the sacrifices that were made. It meant a lot to me to represent my state and gave me a feeling of pride. I will never forget the friends I made and the experiences that I went through.”
	“My experience on Youth Tour was unforgettable and truly amazing. My favorite part was being able to meet people and make friends all across the country, because I had really only known people from New Jersey and a couple relatives from Pennsylvania. Getting to meet people from all over the country made me see how similar or different our lives were. I also enjoyed being able to see so many Washington D.C. monuments, memorials, and museums that brought attention to historic events and taught me more. I also enjoyed learning more about the positive effect of rural electric cooperatives across the country. This opportunity was so special because it made me a part of a group that I will always remember and will always be connected with.”

 

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