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TFS senior represents Habersham EMC on Washington D.C. Youth Tour
Tallulah Falls School rising senior Grace Brewer of Clarkesville was selected to represent Habersham EMC on the 52nd annual Washington Youth Tour (WYT), an all-expenses-paid leadership experience sponsored by electric membership cooperatives in Georgia.
Joining Brewer to represent HEMC was Gillian O'Bryant of White County.
The WYT was established to inspire the next generation of leaders. This year’s tour, which took place June 8-15, exposed students to the fast-paced world of politics, leadership and agenda-setting.
Each year, delegates are challenged to consider the part they play in government and the cooperative movement, to become involved citizens and to consider careers in public service. “These students represent the next generation of educated, engaged citizen leaders in our communities and country,” says Nicole Dover with Habersham EMC. “It’s important for them, especially at this critical age, to experience the nation’s capital, to see monuments and memorials honoring those who made sacrifices so that we can live and worship in a free society and introduce them to students who share similar hopes and dreams but also come from a variety of backgrounds and different parts of the state and country.”
EMC leaders and former student-delegates agree the Youth Tour is an invaluable program that gives young Americans an experience that will stay with them the rest of their lives. While in D.C., participants had the unique opportunity to meet with elected officials and discuss issues that are important back home.
Georgia’s delegation was among 1,700 peers representing cooperatives across the nation. Since 1965, the Washington Youth Tour has given 3,000 students in Georgia and more than 50,000 students nationwide the opportunity to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The program was initially implemented at the request of President Lyndon Johnson, who as a U.S. senator in 1957, encouraged electric cooperatives to “send youngsters to the nation’s capital, where they can actually see what the flag stands for and represents.”
Photo:
Submitted
Shown, from left, are Grace Brewer and Gillian O'Bryant during the recent Washington, D.C. Youth Tour.