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High school juniors across Southside Electric Cooperative’s service area are encouraged to apply for the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour as the trip heads back to the nation’s capital for a week next June.

SEC will take several high school juniors on the June 19-23 trip that will include visits to many of

Washington, D.C.’s iconic sites and museums, a Nationals baseball game, a dinner cruise on the Potomac, a night at the theater and a day on Capitol Hill to meet legislators. SEC pays all the expenses for its students.

The deadline to apply for the Youth Tour is Jan. 31, 2023.

Next summer’s Youth Tour will be the first trip to D.C. since 2019 due to the pandemic.

“It is going to be a fantastic week in our nation’s capital,” said Joy Stump, a community relations coordinator at SEC and one of the Cooperative’s chaperones. “We will experience all the excitement and fun of being in Washington, many of the popular attractions, wonderful restaurants and meeting members of Congress, plus getting to know students from all over the United States.”

SEC’s delegation will join students representing electric cooperatives from other parts of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware along with participants from across the nation to experience the sights and sounds of Washington, D.C.

Any high school junior who lives and attends school (or homeschool) in one of SEC’s 18 counties is eligible to apply. Students’ parents do not have to get electricity from SEC.

Students must fill out an application and submit a written essay of no more than 500 words explaining an issue they are interested in that could be discussed with a legislator. The application, complete rules and more information is available at sec.coop/YouthTour.

Students and parents with questions about the trip should contact Stump at (434) 645-3219 or joy.stump@sec.coop or SEC’s other community relations coordinator and chaperone, Mark Thomas, at (434) 645- 3276 or mark.thomas@sec.coop.