After a close competition, featuring top-notch speeches from students around the area, three area high school students are preparing to pack their bags for a week in Washington, D.C.

A press release says Jacob Bacus and Caton Brown, of Oak Grove High School, and Shayla Joseph, of Crest Ridge High School, were named winners of the annual Rural Electric Youth Tour competition sponsored by West

Central Electric Cooperative, Inc. They will receive an all-expense-paid trip to the nation’s capital June 13-19 for the National Rural Electric Youth Tour.

Finalists in the 2022 competition participated in the second round April 6 at West Central Electric Cooperative’s headquarters in Higginsville. The students delivered their essays during the oral competition, with the top three earning the trips to the National Rural Electric Youth Tour.

“We had 57 entries from five different schools, and the finalists all did a fantastic job in both the written and the oral competitions,” Communications Specialist and Youth Tour Coordinator Heather Hoflander said.

Following a Youth Tour reception June 13, Missouri’s 100-plus-member delegation will travel to Washington, D.C. on June 14. While there, delegates will visit, among other places, the Washington Monument and the Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Vietnam Wall and Korean War memorials. They will get the opportunity to witness the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, and take an evening dance cruise on the Potomac River.

Also on the agenda is Youth Day, which is attended by delegates from across the country; and a day on Capitol Hill, where students can meet with their senators and representatives.

Also up for grabs in the competition was a trip to the Cooperative Youth Conference and Leadership Experience (CYCLE) in Jefferson City July 13-15. Students winning the trip to CYCLE were Aubriana Beeler and Corinne Caldarella, of Oak Grove High School, and Brooklyn Correa, Jenna Shanks and Kyla Brandes, of Crest Ridge High School.

CYCLE, which is coordinated by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, has been recognized as the top cooperative youth conference in the nation. During the conference, students will spend a day at the Missouri State Capitol Building, learn about cooperatives, participate in leadership and team-building activities, and hear top-notch speakers. Past speakers at CYCLE have included Darrell Scott, whose daughter, Rachel, was killed in the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 and Mike Schlappi, wheelchair basketball world champion and Paralympics medalist whose message is “If you can’t stand up — stand out.” For more information on the Rural Electric Youth Tour or the Cooperative Youth Conference and Leadership Experience, please contact West Central Electric Cooperative.