One hundred-fifty students and 15 chaperones from 60 Texas electric cooperatives returned home last week from Texas’ 54th annual Government-in-Action Youth Tour after ten days and a 3,000-mile round-trip flight from Austin to Washington, D.C. At more than 2,100 participants – about 260 are adult chaperones – this year’s tour was the largest.
Each year, Fayette Electric Cooperative sends two students to Washington, D.C., on the Youth Tour. “Life-changing” and “astounding” are the words that Madeline Benbenke and Abigail Roscher, Fayette EC’s two delegates used upon returning home from their action-packed trip.
The trip began in Austin with a tour of the Texas State Capitol, the Texas State Cemetery, Zilker Botanical Gardens, and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.
The next day, they boarded chartered flights to D.C. where they began a whirlwind tour of the nation’s capital, visiting as many monuments, museums and historic sites that they could pack into their time in our nation’s capital including Mount Vernon; Arlington National Cemetery, the National Cathedral; the Smithsonian Institution; the Museum of the Bible; the Holocaust Museum; and the Lincoln, Jefferson, World War II and Vietnam memorials among others.
The Texas delegates also took a day to meet with their elected representatives to discuss current issues, and then toured the capital, the Supreme Court and Library of Congress.
Other activities include seeing a performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and going on a Potomac River boat cruise with dinner and dancing.
“The Youth Tour is much more than over 1,800 teens from across the country coming together to tour Washington. It is about discovering and inspiring the young leaders of tomorrow individually. Fayette EC is proud to send two students to learn about the workings of their national government and experience the sights and sounds of Washington, D.C.” said FEC General Manager Gary Don Nietsche.
The trip lasts 10 days, but the memories and friendships made will last a lifetime.
For more information about Youth Tour, visit youthtour.org and or contact Catherine Poppe at 979-968-3181 or cjpoppe@fayette.coop.