![]( "Okefenoke Rural Electric Membership Corporation’s 2018 National Washington Youth Tour delegates visit the Marine Corps War Memorial. Four students from OREMC’s service area will be selected to experience the youth tour, which will occur June 13-20.")
Okefenoke Rural Electric Membership Corporation’s 2018 National Washington Youth Tour delegates visit the Marine Corps War Memorial. Four students from OREMC’s service area will be selected to experience the youth tour, which will occur June 13-20.
From monuments and museums to history in the making, the 2019 National Washington Youth Tour is a leadership experience that immerses young people from across the country in a historical and cultural trip of a lifetime to Washington, D.C., promoting awareness and understanding of the nation’s past, present and future.
Okefenoke REMC sponsors four students to participate in the all-expenses-paid Washington Youth Tour and invites high school juniors living in the eight counties it serves – Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Glynn, Ware and Wayne counties in Georgia and Baker and Nassau counties in Florida – to apply. If chosen, the students will become OREMC delegates and join more than 110 teens from other electric membership cooperatives across Georgia to represent the state June 13-20.
The fast-paced, high-energy program is designed to give students a taste of democracy in action, expose them to the nation’s rich history through visits to national monuments and museums, encourage students to become politically aware citizens, make new friends and gain leadership experience.
“I did not know I needed the people I met on the trip in my life until they were in it,” reflects 2018 Youth Tour Delegate Grant Bennett of Nahunta. “Today I could not picture my life without them. I met my future college roommate on the Washington Youth Tour.”
Kaden Grantham of Jesup, a fellow 2018 Youth Tour delegate, feels similarly. “Now I have friends across Georgia who I shared this experience with. My most important takeaway is being open to new things, and that young people need to represent something greater than themselves.”
The tour begins in Georgia where students get to know each other before boarding an airplane and flying to Washington, D.C., where they connect with more than 1,800 students from across the country. Plans are in the works to cruise down the Potomac River, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery, meet with Georgia’s U.S. senators and representatives, take photos outside the White House and tour the U.S. Supreme Court, the United States Capitol, Mount Vernon and the National Cathedral.
Youth tour information and the application are available online at oremc.com/our-community, at each of OREMC’s offices or from your high school guidance counselor. Completed applications must be received in one of the OREMC offices by Feb. 25.
If you have questions or need information, contact OREMC Member Service Representative Dewayne Johns at 800-262-5131, ext. 1143, or via email at dewayne.johns@oremc.com.