Southwest Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation announced two winners were selected to participate in the 2023 Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C.

Adelene Westfall of Nashville High School and daughter of Jeffery and Amy Westfall and Cameron Gordon of Genoa Central High School and granddaughter of Jimmy and Linda Gordon, were selected as winners of an essay-writing contest on the topic of the “Why it isn’t Always Feasible to Replace Fossil Fuel Power Generation with Renewable Energy Power Generation.”
 
The trip is all expense paid and will involve approximately 40 other youths from across Arkansas. From June 16 through June 22, the tour will visit the White House, the U.S. Capitol, Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson monuments; the Vietnam Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, and other sights in Washington, D.C. 

In addition, the winners will be eligible to compete to represent Arkansas on the National Rural Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) Youth Leadership Council.  Arkansas’ representative, selected by the tour directors, will attend NRECA’s national meeting and participate in a variety of other cooperative activities throughout the year. They will also have a chance to win a $5,000 scholarship.

Each of Arkansas’ 17 electric cooperatives select representatives for the Youth Tour, primarily through speech and essay contests.  Those winners will join approximately 1,500 youth from 38 states in Washington for the National Rural Electric Youth Tour.