Youth Involvement

There may be no better example of the cooperative principles “Education, Training and Information” and “Commitment to Community” than the investment OEC makes in today’s youth. Each year the co-op hosts interactive workshops and camps to help young people gain leadership skills and knowledge that empowers them with the confidence to get involved in their schools and their communities. It’s an investment that will ensure a brighter future for all of us.

The Touchstone Leadership Summit

Each year two high school students from schools in OEC’s service territory are chosen to attend this one-day seminar in Oklahoma City. In addition to the innovative, interactive curriculum of leadership and fun team-building activities, which is led by some of the most motivational speakers in the region, attendees—students from across the state representing their local electric cooperatives—also receive a $250 college scholarship and have an opportunity to win an additional $1,000 scholarship. The Summit concludes at a sporting event like an Oklahoma City Thunder basketball game or an Oklahoma City Baron’s hockey match.

The 2012 Leadership Summit will be held on January 28. High school students currently enrolled in tenth, eleventh or twelfth grade at a high school in OEC’s service area are eligible—and encouraged—to apply. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2011.

Youth Tour

Perhaps OEC’s best-known and most anticipated youth program, Youth Tour is a week-long, all-expenses-paid educational trip to Washington, D.C. in June of each year. OEC annually sponsors four delegates—all juniors/soon-to-be seniors—from high schools within its service territory on Youth Tour. They travel with the Oklahoma delegation (about 60 students in all) to our nation’s capital where they tour historic sites and national landmarks and meet Oklahoma’s congressional delegation. Youth Tour has earned a reputation as “a trip of a lifetime” by former participants.

High school juniors can take part in the Youth Tour contest, a two-part essay and speech competition. To enter, students must write a 500- to 1,000-word essay on a given energy topic. Finalists attend a banquet at the end of March where they give a speech on their paper. Independent community leaders–teachers, journalists and industry experts–serve as judges, grading the students on poise, content, delivery and a Q&A session. OEC is currently accepting essays for the 2012 Youth Tour (June 15-21). This year’s essay topic is:

Cooperatives follow a set of guidelines called the Rochdale Principles. Which one of the seven principles do you find most important and why?

Call OEC’s member service department at 405-217-6708 to request a resource packet with study materials and the contest entry form. The information in the packet will help students get started with their writing; however, students are not limited to this information and are encouraged to do additional research. Essays are due March 1, 2012. The final selection banquet is March 29.

Youth Power Energy Camp

A four-day action-packed adventure for eighth-graders, Energy Camp helps develop leadership skills and promotes teamwork while teaching about cooperative enterprises, the rural electrification program and electrical safety. Each year, OEC sponsors two students to the camp, which is held the end of May at Canyon Camp, near Hinton, Okla.

While Energy Camp offers many traditional summer camp activities like swimming, hiking, basketball, and a ropes course, teens also have the unique opportunity to climb a utility pole, ride in the basket of a bucket truck, tour one of the largest electricity generating facilities in the state and watch a co-op crew at work. They’ll take home a new-found confidence and a host of new friends—like minded peers from all over Oklahoma.

Students currently enrolled in the eighth grade and whose parents are members of OEC are eligible to compete for a spot at Energy Camp. To enter the contest, students must write a 100-word report on a given energy-related topic, which is determined in early spring. Please check back in early 2012 for essay topic and contest dates. Call OEC’s member services department at 405-217-6708 for more information.