Western Cooperative Sends Local Students to Tour Nation’s Capital
Austin Carroll, Ellis High School and Jaiden Pfannenstiel, Hays High School were among 27 Kansas student delegates to attend the 2023 Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in Washington, D.C, held June 15-22.
Carroll and Pfannenstiel selected to represent Western Co-op at this exclusive opportunity to experience the country’s history and government firsthand. While exploring Washington, D.C., students learned more about America’s electric cooperatives and developed valuable leadership skills. Carroll and Pfannenstiel were chosen to join 1,531 students from 44 states after applying through Westerncoop.com. Students were then scored based on a short essay, test, and interviews.
The 2023 Youth Tour began in Topeka with a get-acquainted dinner for the students, followed by a night tour of the Kansas State Capitol led by State Treasurer Steven Johnson and Kansas Representative Kyle Hoffman, both alumni of the Kansas electric cooperative youth programs. Before departing for Washington, D.C., students visited with linemen at FreeState Electric Cooperative where they learned about the co-op’s commitment to safety, linemen safety gear, and had the opportunity to ride in a bucket truck.
The seven-day trip to D.C. included a tour of the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Smithsonian museums, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, Arlington National Cemetery and Mount Vernon. The students helped raise the garrison flag at Fort McHenry, and they sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” alongside Screech the mascot of the Washington Nationals during the 7th inning stretch of a Major League Ballgame. Students experienced an elevator ride to the top of the Washington Monument, a dinner cruise on the Potomac, and a driving simulation at the Law Enforcement Museum. They also enjoyed a performance of The Enigmatist at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a visit to the National Aquarium, and an interactive language experience at the Planet Word Museum.
Kansas delegates joined youth from other states to attend a day of inspirational programming at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) National Youth Day on June 17. Paralympic Gold Medalist Mike Schlappi addressed the students and motivated them for success as future leaders. Other speakers included Mat Kilgore, a lineman from Iowa Lakes Electric Co-op, who shared stories from his time in Guatemala with NRECA International, and Rukaya Alrubaye, the NRECA Youth Leadership Council spokesperson, sponsored by Ozarks Electric in Arkansas, who encouraged the students to dream big.
The Kansas student delegates witnessed government in action by engaging with United States Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall. The Kansas legislators answered questions from the students ranging in topics from the farm bill, crop insurance, labor shortages, the impact of a flat tax, and how students can succeed in future internships.
For Pfannenstiel attending the youth tour as a representative of her cooperative was an inspirational experience, saying, “Besides meeting new friends, the thing that impacted me the most was seeing now much history went into creating our country, as well as how many people played significant roles in it. Without our history, we wouldn’t be where we are as a society.”
For ’23-’24 high school juniors, Western will start accepting application through www.westerncoop.com/youth-tour in late 2023.