News : Iowa Teens Travel to Washington, D.C., for 2017 Youth Tour

From June 9-15, 38 high school students representing Iowa's not-for-profit electric cooperatives traveledto Washington, D.C., joining more than 1,800 other students from around the nation for the 2017Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. For more than 50 years, the Youth Tour has been giving students theopportunity to tour the nation's capital. This year, Cade Shramek and Macy Arbuckle represented and were sponsored by East-Central IowaRural Electric Cooperative. Cade attends Prairie High School and is the son of Don and Lora Shramek ofAmana. Macy is the daughter of Jim and Carol Arbuckle of Vinton. She is home-schooled. Along with the other Youth Tour students, Cade and Macy participated in leadership training, engaged in one-on-one conversations with elected officials, jumpstarted their national peer network, learned aboutelectric cooperatives, and toured Washington, D.C. "The Youth Tour is the highlight of the summer for many students from Iowa, and we're proud to send38 of our best and brightest to our nation's capital this year to participate,"� said Chuck Soderberg,Executive Vice President of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives. "These students gained a firsthandunderstanding of the legislative process and made connections with other student leaders fromacross the country that will last a lifetime. We look forward to continuing the Youth Tour tradition foranother 50 years."� Students apply and are selected for the Youth Tour program by their local electric cooperatives. Nearly50,000 students have participated in this program over the decades. For more information on the tourand the application process, visit www.youthtour.coop.