The Experience of a Lifetime For High School Juniors
Washington, D.C. Youth Tour
June 11-17, 20010

Next summer 1,500 high school students from all across America will travel to Washington, D.C. for the Rural Electric Youth Tour. They will cruise the Potomac, attend a play, meet members of Congress and see all the monuments. And one of them will be sponsored, 100%, by Poudre Valley REA.

If you have a son or daughter, or a grandson or granddaughter, who is a Junior in High School and lives in a PVREA household they can enter the contest. Just print out an entry form here.

“The youth tour was an amazing experience to add to my life,” said, Eric Gill, our winner from last year. “There are memories that I will never forget of the tour. I got to meet new friends from Colorado and we had the best of experiences together. The youth tour is something that I would recommend for all juniors in high school to enter. You won’t regret it.”

Entering the Youth Tour is easy and the rules are simple. All your student needs to do is send us a photograph, drawing, painting, video, digital art or an essay he or she has created. The theme should communicate, in a creative way, how our electric cooperative touches their life.

Finalists will be interviewed in person and a winner and an alternate will be chosen. The runner up will spend a week at the Colorado Energy Camp in Steamboat Springs next summer.

The Washington Youth Tour will take place June 11 -17, 2010. I encourage every PVREA member with a Junior in High School to apply.

Who Is Eligible? High school juniors at least 16-17 years of age--and whose parents or guardians are Poudre Valley REA members--are eligible to enter the contest.

How Do Students Enter? Students who wish to enter the contest can do so by writing an essay, producing a 10-15 minute video, creating a free-hand drawing or computer-generated graphic, or taking and submitting a photograph that illustrates how our electric cooperative touches their life. Essays should be typed, double-spaced, and approximately 500 words long.

How Will the Winner Be Selected? Art and photograph entries will be judged on subject matter, creativity, originality, and use of the 8.5" x 3.5" space. Essays and videos will be judged for topic knowledge, clarity and correctness of presentation, documentation of sources, grammar and spelling (in essays). Finalists will be interviewed by the Tour Committee. From these students the winner and an alternate will be chosen.

Second place is also worth the effort! An additional three of the students who enter the contest will be chosen to represent Poudre Valley REA at Colorado's energy camp in Steamboat Springs in July.

Application

ALL ENTRIES must be postmarked or hand-delivered no later than December 4, 2009.