Youth Tour

The Oklahoma Rural Electric Washington Youth Tour is an annual, week long, all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., that is awarded to select high school students who attend school districts in NFEC’s service area.

Nationwide, more than 1,800 young people gather in Washington, D.C., each year for this event. The tour is coordinated by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives (OAEC).  Local electric cooperatives sponsor contests to select students who will represent their service area as well as the entire state of Oklahoma during the Youth Tour trip.

During the Youth Tour, students follow state-planned itineraries, which include a day on Capitol Hill observing the House and Senate in session, and a breakfast with their states’ Congressional delegations. Also conducted is a series of educational seminars to help students learn more about cooperatives. These seminars are conducted by NRECA staff members, state coordinators and past Youth Tour participants.

NFEC annually sponsors two delegates from high schools within its service territory.

2026 NFEC Youth Tour Contest Rules

Selection of the four finalists will be based on the following guidelines: 

1.     Students must currently be classified as eleventh graders attending a school in Northfork Electric Cooperative's service area.

2.     Students must complete an entry form and prepare an essay of no more than 500 words on the following topic:

What has been the most important event to have occurred in our nation during your lifetime? How did it affect you?

3.     Deadline for all entries is Thursday, January 8, 2026.

4.     DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE ESSAY! Attach a completed entry form to your essay with a paperclip. Please make sure that it is neat and legible.

5.     Use only one side of the paper, double space and number the pages.  Essays should be no longer than 500 words. Deliver completed entry form and essay to NFEC Headquarters in Sayre.

6.     Essays will be judged on knowledge of subject, originality, composition, and grammar. You can use information from our website or any source you choose. Be original and factual.

7.     Four finalists and one alternate will be selected by a team of independent judges. Decisions of the judges are final.

8.     Members of the immediate families and/or persons residing in the households of cooperative trustees, and/or employees of NFEC are not eligible to participate in the contest or serve as winners.

The four finalists will be required to attend NFEC's Youth Tour finals to be scheduled once the finalists are announced. If for some reason one of the finalists is unable to attend the alternate will be called to attend. It will be at the finals that they will present their essays and be interviewed by a panel of Independent judges. The top two students will be awarded the trip to Washington, D.C. More details will be provided to those selected for the finals. The Youth Tour trip is scheduled for June 13-19, 2026. New for 2026, a mandatory orientation and day at the Oklahoma Capitol will be held on April 17, 2026. Students selected as Youth Tour delegates will also be expected to attend the NFEC Annual Meeting in Sayre on August 15, 2026.

The trip is subject to change or cancellation. In the event that the trip is canceled, the top two will receive scholarships in lieu of the trip.

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

• To reward students for academic achievement and community leadership

• To educate students about the role of electric co-ops in the national economy

• To foster students' appreciation for the democratic form of government

• To expose students to the sights and sounds of our nation's heritage

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