The Oklahoma Rural Electric Washington Youth Tour is an annual, weeklong, all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. that is open to select high school students who attend schools served by electirc cooperatives.

Twenty-five of Oklahoma's electric cooperatives participate in the Washington Youth Tour. Nationwide, electric co-ops from 41 states participate. In all, more than 1,300 young people from across the nation gather in Washington, D.C. each year for this event.

Oklahoma's electric co-ops send students to Washington for a number of reasons including:

• rewarding students for academic achievement and community leadership;

• educating students about the role of electric co-ops in the national economy;

• fostering students' appreciation for the democratic form of gevernment;

• exposing students to the sights and sounds of our nation's heritage; and

• building students' leadership skills so that they may make a difference in their communities.

The Washington Youth Tour is sponsored by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association , Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives and Oklahoma's 28 electric distribution cooperatives .