The Lady Behind it All

Shelly York has been the Youth Tour director for the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives for the last 6-7 years if my memory serves me correct. Shelly is the one who plans/coordinates this amazing trip to allow students from all around Iowa to get the full D.C. experience. Shelly put it so much time into planning this trip, for example, she checked with the Holocaust Museum everyday for months to book tickets, and when none were available she even had a back-up plan all figured out.

Shelly always has the students in mind when planning this and is constantly looking for ways to improve the Youth Tour experience. Don’t believe me? Here are some of the things that the students from Youth Tour 2015 had to say about her. “She’s incredible! Best woman ever!” says Haley Kilborn. “Is Youth Tour even Youth Tour without her?” says Claire Davis.

            As Shelly’s intern this year I got to see a lot of the behind the scenes stuff that Shelly does, and in essence was her right hand man. It really made me look back when I went on the Youth Tour back in 2012 to see how much she really does, not just the planning and the organization skills, but as Sarah Busta says “She keeps her cool even though she spends a week with 35 crazy teenagers.” So this is too you Shelly! And if you are reading this right now go and tell Shelly York, “Thank you for all that you do” I’m sure she would love to hear it!

by Alec DeVries (Youth Tour Intern/Alumni)