01 Aug
Brady Eitel of Conifer, Aiden Ingenthron of Louviers and Maleah Yates of Strasburg were selected to participate in the Washington, D.C., Youth Tour. They joined more than 1,800 other youth representatives from throughout the U.S. to visit prominent D.C. landmarks, meet with elected officials and learn more about the role of electric cooperatives, which serve 42 million residents in 47 states.
Before leaving for D.C., Brady, Aiden, Maleah and 36 other Colorado student representatives visited the state capitol in Denver, toured Tri-State Generation & Transmission in Westminster, and met with Colorado State Senator Faith Winter.
Highlights of their Washington, D.C., trip included participation in a bill-to-law simulation; visits to Gettysburg National Military Park, several Smithsonian Museums, the National Archives Museum and several memorials; and tours of the National Cathedral, Ford’s Theater, Arlington National Cemetery and the Library of Congress.
The student representatives also enjoyed a play at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a youth night organized by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), and meetings with several elected officials, including U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner, and U.S. Representatives Scott Tipton and Jason Crow. Maleah was elected by her fellow Colorado student representatives to serve on the Youth Leadership Council. She returned to D.C. in July for training on public speaking and leadership, and will represent Colorado at the NRECA Annual Meeting in New Orleans next year.