Six local students recently returned from the Washington D.C. Youth Tour, a week-long
all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., sponsored by GCEA and organized by the Colorado Rural Electric Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the Colorado Electric Educational Institute. The trip was June 17-23.
Luca Meyer, Elise Hanna, and Josie Feier from Crested Butte joined Annie Harvey, Dakota Sahagun from Gunnison, and Priya Hartman from Lake City. Their trip began in Denver where they had the opportunity to meet state government officials and tour the Colorado State Capitol. The group met up with other students from Colorado and Wyoming before flying out to the Washington, D.C., area. The students toured memorials, museums, and cathedrals, visited Mt. Vernon, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Capitol, and even took in a Washington Nationals baseball game.
Recent Gunnison High School graduate Dakota Sahagun said, “Youth Tour was an unforgettable experience that has changed my life. I met incredible people and had an incredible time.”
Thanks to unclaimed capital credits, GCEA is pleased to make this trip available each year. Capital credits are each member's share of GCEA’s operating margins in proportion to the amount of electricity used during the calendar year. When capital credit checks are returned for incorrect mailing address information or are never cashed, the board votes to move unclaimed capital credits into special funds allocated towards care for education and care for community.
GCEA’s Washington D.C. Youth Tour participants are sponsored with these funds.
If a student is interested in attending next year’s trip, more information can be found at gcea.coop. Applications will be available this fall.