Victoria Bass, Amber Goolsby, and Jaimeen Shah are the winners of an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. sponsored by Laurens Electric Cooperative. They will travel with other South Carolina students to the nation’s capital where they will join more than 1,400 students from across the country. The nation’s electric cooperatives sponsor the one-week event each June.
Local students to spend a week in Washington, D.C.
The students attending this year’s Washington Youth Tour to represent Laurens Electric Cooperative, called delegates, are Victoria Bass, daughter of Stephanie and Greg Bass of Taylors, Amber Goolsby, daughter of Walter and Margaret Goolsby of Mauldin, and Jaimeen Shah, son of Ketan and Ragi Shah of Simpsonville.
The delegates were selected from a group of high school students who completed an application and were interviewed by a panel of judges. They will be among more than 40 other young people from all over the state participating in the tour to the nation’s capital city, June 15-20.
During their stay in Washington, the students will visit with their representatives and senators and tour sites of historical significance.
Youth Tour participants from 39 states will meet in Washington, D.C. for the tour, which has been conducted for more than 40 years.
Laurens student selected for state-level tour
South Carolina’s electric co-ops sponsor a state-level trip, similar to the Washington Youth Tour, called Cooperative Youth Summit.
Laurens Electric will be represented by Lleyton Abell, son of Karen Abell of Laurens on a three-day, two-night event in the capital city Columbia July 9-12.
Students will engage in activities designed to teach them about electric cooperatives and the co-op business model, as well as how state government works.
Cooperative Youth Summit attendees will tour an electric generation facility, go on a private tour of the S.C. Statehouse, write, debate and pass a “bill,” and engage in team-building exercises and social gatherings.
“We sponsor this tour as part of our commitment to the young people in our service area,” said David Wasson, Laurens Electric’s President and CEO. “We do this to educate high school juniors about American and South Carolina government and about the history and business principles of electric cooperatives.”