A few friendly reminders!

Orientation will be June 8, 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn-Airport, 6111 Fleur Dr., Des Moines. We are in the Westview Room. Please just bring your luggage with you to the room. We will go over the week’s schedule, rules, etc. The parents are dismissed at 7:30 p.m. From there we will do some ice breaker games and initiate the creations of the Snack Cooperative. Lights out at 10 p.m.! We will spend the night at the hotel.

I have been loading our schedule onto our app. We have partnered with Grupio to provide a free app for Iowa Youth Tour participants. You can download the mobile app and access information about our event from the convenience of your phone. Access the schedule, speakers, cooperative lists, etc

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iPhone - Search for Grupio in the App Store

Android - Search for Grupio in the Android Market 

Once you have the app downloaded you can search for “Iowa Youth Tour 2017” from the menu.

New this year! During Iowa Youth Tour 2017 the students will be forming and running their own cooperative, which will provide snacks for Iowa’s Youth Tour participants. This project is educational, practical and accomplishes two things. First, it provides snacks at reasonable prices and second, it teaches everyone about starting and operating a cooperative and being a co-op “member owner.”

The co-op will be very similar to electric cooperatives or other local member-owned cooperatives, but on a much smaller scale. The main difference is that this co-op will provide snacks for the members (Youth Tour students and chaperones) while on the trip.

ALL STUDENTS: BY JUNE 1 - Please go to this link and rank your interest in each of the Snack Cooperative position. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JFBXVXJ

We’d like all student (and parents too!) to take a minute and watch this presentation. We are passionate about the cooperative business model and we want to share our enthusiasm with you, so we put this short Prezi together.

Students! You never know, there might be a prize for those that can answer some co-op questions while we are touring around DC!

Please watch! https://prezi.com/0betqgm5ug2w/cooperative-101-iowa-youth-tour/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

 

Please follow up on social media! We will post all of the photo we tack each day on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/IowaYouthTour?ref=hl). If you are not a member of the 2017 Youth Tour Facebook group, you (students and parents) are welcome to join! https://www.facebook.com/groups/350435298667202/?ref=bookmarks

Twitter: We will be tweeting while in D.C. Our handle is @IowaYouthTour

Instagram: iowayouthtour

Snapchat: iowayouthtour

And, finally, while in DC, I use a simple texting app to send out reminders and messages. You can subscribe to it by simply text yt17 to 72466 and you will be added to the group. Message and data rates may apply.

Iowa’s Electric Cooperatives are Sending 38 Students to Washington, D.C. for Youth Tour

Thirty eight high school students from across Iowa will travel to Washington, D.C. on June 9-15 to join more than 1,700 other students from around the nation for the 2017 Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. 

The Youth Tour is the highlight of the summer for many students from Iowa, and the electric cooperatives are proud to send 38 of our best and brightest to Washington, DC this year to participate. On the tour, students learn about electric cooperatives, American history and U.S. government and walk away with a greater understanding of their role as an American citizen. They participate in Youth Day, visit with their representatives and senators, and explore the sights around the nation’s capital.

Many Youth Tour students come back from Youth Tour energized about public service and government. Several of these students serve as pages and clerks in the Iowa legislature, while others go on to become politically involved on their college campuses. We take pride knowing that we’re educating a new generation about the benefits and advantages of the cooperative business model, no matter where their professional careers take them.

The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has brought high school students to Washington, D.C. for over 50 years. Students apply and are selected for this program by their local electric cooperative. Nearly 50,000 students have participated in this program. For more information, visit www.youthtour.coop.

One month from today we will be in D.C.!

Not only will we get to see the White House live and in person, we get to be part of our own cooperative while we are there!  How will we do this?  We will have a snack co-op.  This snack co-op is something new this year that will be formed and ran by the students.  I am so excited for this, not only the experience of starting and operating a cooperative, but also the snack prices will be better than any you can find in D.C.!  I think it is a great way for us to all understand the cooperative principles even more than we do now!

The co-op will be similar to an electric cooperative or a member-owned cooperative, but on a much smaller scale.  The cooperative will have by-laws, board meetings, and all the “normal” cooperative items.  All students will apply for a position within the cooperative.  Each student will rank their interest in one of three jobs (nominating committee, director, manager) from 1-3 with one being the first pick of positions. Some of these positions will even “pay”!  

When we are all exhausted yet exhilarated from all of the D.C. sites, we will hold our annual meeting to dissolve the cooperative and refund patronage (margins), if any.  There will be work in between days that will be presented also.  This is a really exciting opportunity and I hope you all think so too!  

See you next month!

Holi Weston, Farmers Electric Cooperative and 2017 Youth Tour Chaperone

Holi Weston

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