Two local students will go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. this June, courtesy of San Patricio Electric Cooperative. Miranda Matocha, a junior at Sinton High School and Anthony McGuill, a junior at Refugio High School entered and won the co-op’s contest for a chance to attend the Government-in-Action Youth Tour.
More than 1,500 students from cooperatives across the county will attend the Youth Tour this year, which runs from June 10-19. Matocha and McGuill will be among more than 120 students in the Texas delegation.
This year, the Youth Tour will kick off with an extra day in Austin. Students will get to tour the Texas State Capital, Governor’s Mansion and Bob Bullock Museum before heading to Washington, D.C.
While in D.C., Matocha and McGuill will experience a packed-week in which they will meet with Senators and U.S. Representatives, explore museums and visit national monuments.
“I’m really looking forward to the monuments. I’m a big history buff and I’m excited to experience the nation’s capital first-hand,” said McGuill.
“I’m most excited about site-seeing and getting to know more about our country,” said Matocha.
SPEC sponsors two students each year, covering the cost of airfare, accommodations, meals and entrance fees to all attractions. The winning students are only responsible for incidental expenses and any souvenirs they’d like to bring home.
SPEC’s Youth Tour contest was open to high school juniors and seniors in the co-op’s nine-county service area, whose parents are members of SPEC. Applicants were also required to have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. To enter, students had to fill out a short application and answer the essay question, “If you could make your own law, what would it be and why?”
About the Youth Tour
The Government-in-Action Youth Tour is a national cooperative initiative to send student’s to the nation’s capital. The program grew from the ideas of President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1957, when LBJ was still a Senator, he spoke at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) Annual Meeting. In his speech he declared, “If one thing comes out of this meeting, it will be sending youngsters to the national capital where they can actually see what the flag stands for and represents.”
Cooperatives across the nation soon got behind the idea and in 1964 created the first organized effort to send students to Washington D.C. for what is now known as the Government-in-Action Youth Tour. After more than 50 years, the Youth Tour has been able to send nearly 50,000 students from rural America to the nations’ capital.
Thank you to all of our applicants!
We want to thank everyone that applied for our Youth Tour program. We wish we could send all of our area students on this once-in-a-lifetime trip, but unfortunately we are limited to just two spots. Please remember that you may still be eligible for our scholarship program. Seniors, have your applications in by April 1. Juniors, remember to apply next year!