Local students to embark on leadership experience of a lifetime

Con­grat­u­la­tions to the local high school juniors select­ed to rep­re­sent Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive on the 2025 Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour this June! Along with more than 40 oth­ers, these win­ning stu­dents applied for the Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour in Jan­u­ary, and then under­went an inter­view process.

The win­ners are:

• Emi­ly Att­away, McIn­tosh Coun­ty Acad­e­my
• McKen­zie Blan­chard, Lib­er­ty Coun­ty High School
• Aku Kom­lan, Brad­well Insti­tute
• Delaney Thomp­son, Rich­mond Hill High School
• Olivia Tiede, Rich­mond Hill High School
• Leighum White, Lib­er­ty Coun­ty High School

The stu­dents will join oth­ers from across the nation on an all-expens­es-paid trip to Wash­ing­ton, D.C. They will meet with law­mak­ers, tour his­toric sites and learn lessons in lead­er­ship that will ben­e­fit them through­out their lives. Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive del­e­gates will also receive a $2,500 schol­ar­ship each from the Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive Foun­da­tion to help fur­ther their edu­ca­tion.

Three alter­nates will receive a $500 schol­ar­ship each from the Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive Foun­da­tion:

• Adey­oyin­so­la Adeni­ji, Rich­mond Hill High School
• Han­nah Causey, First Prepara­to­ry Chris­t­ian Acad­e­my
• Madi­son Waters, McIn­tosh Coun­ty Acad­e­my

Pro­grams like the Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour are made pos­si­ble by Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive mem­bers who allow their elec­tric bills to be round­ed up to the next dol­lar through Oper­a­tion Round Up. Those nick­els and dimes are pooled togeth­er and invest­ed back into the com­mu­ni­ty through the Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive Foun­da­tion.