Imagine touring America’s capital and delving into the political process firsthand with hundreds of other students from around the nation. 
That’s exactly what Lorain-Medina Rural Electric Cooperative has been doing each year since 1980 by sponsoring at least two high school students to attend the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, a unique leadership experience that sends high school sophomores and juniors on a weeklong trip to Washington, D.C., in June. 
Megan Beebe of Mapleton High School and Ashley Stroud of Black River High School were selected to represent LMRE, and were among 35 other students from Ohio. For more than 50 years, cooperatives across the country have sent students to learn about government and the cooperative business model, gain leadership skills, make friends from across the state, and, of course, see the famous capital sights. 
Ohio’s students were among more than 1,700 high schoolers from 47 states to convene in Washington, D.C., June 9 through 15. The trip is coordinated by Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives, the trade association for the 25 cooperatives serving Ohio. 
Tour attractions included the U.S. Capitol, Smithsonian Institution, Vietnam Memorial, Mount Vernon, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. They also met with Ohio congressional representatives. An annual highlight was an evening boat trip down the Potomac. 
Nearly 50,000 students from rural areas and small towns across America have participated in this program. Some Youth Tour alumni have gone on to design airplanes, lead companies, and serve in the highest ranks of our government, including the U. S. Senate. 
High school sophomores and juniors whose parents are members of LMRE are invited to apply in January for this all-expenses-paid experience.