Washington Youth Tour

Growing young minds is something York Electric takes great pride in. By providing educational materials and hosting art contests for students of all ages, to awarding over $12,000 in scholarships to local seniors each year to nominating student delegates to attend free trips to both our state and nation’s capitals, YEC is committed to enriching and supporting the lives of our future leaders.

One student that we have had the great opportunity to empower through education and to watch his success unfold is Jordan Brown of Fort Mill. In the summer of 2022, YEC sent Brown, along with two other local high school juniors, on an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. where he had the opportunity to tour monuments, memorials, museums and the U.S. Capitol.

The most impactful part of Brown’s Washington Youth Tour experience, though, was the chance to speak with U.S. Senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, as well as his congressman, U.S. Representative Ralph Norman. Brown recalls, “I thoroughly enjoyed being able to ask my legislators questions and see that they were real people just like me. It made me want to become more politically active.”

Brown used his experience to become more politically involved, indeed. After turning 18 this year and gaining the ability to vote, Brown rallied some of his fellow classmates to host a voter registration drive at his high school. As a result, Brown was able to register over 54 students to vote and to plant the seed of political involvement.

“This drive was a great way for me to share the importance of using your voice to enact change,” Brown says. “I look forward to doing more like this in the future.”

York Electric certainly looks forward to watching Brown do just that and is excited to see where his successes take him.

By Josh P. Crotzer

Running a company is in Addie Ferrell’s blood. Now it’s on her resume.

Ferrell, a rising senior at Clover High School and one of the three student delegates representing York Electric Cooperative on Washington Youth Tour, was selected by her peers as the manager of the Soda Pop Co-op during the trip. Arnav Goel of Fort Mill and Andy Goss of York were also sponsored by YEC.

“My mom, uncle and grandpa own a forklift business,” says Ferrell. “I’ve always looked up to them and want to go into the business world. When I found out that I could be a manager for the cooperative, I was excited to apply some of my knowledge and use it in a different way.”

The Soda Pop Co-op is a student-run co-op that sold snacks and beverages to the 59 delegates on the trip sponsored by electric cooperatives across South Carolina. Ferrell was chosen by a co-op board, helped set the prices for the products and administered sales. As member- consumers, the students each received $7 in capital credits, their share of the co-op’s end-of- trip margins. The exercise allowed the students to learn first-hand how the not- for-profit co-op business model works.

“I learned that one of the most vital things is communication,” says Ferrell. “It’s important that we listen to our customers because it’s their company. We can come together and use everybody’s opinion to make the best business possible.”

Much of the Washington Youth Tour experience, an all- expenses-paid trip that included visits to historical and educational sites like George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, was similarly hands-on. When visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the students were provided names of soldiers from their hometowns to etch off the wall. When they went to the U.S. Capitol Building, they visited Rep. Ralph Norman’s office, spoke with members of his staff and engaged in question-and-answer sessions with the congressman on the Capitol steps.

“Just seeing the Lincoln Memorial and all the things he worked for, stood out to me,” says Goss, a rising senior at York Comprehensive High. “Washington has so much to offer, and I thank York Electric for giving me this opportunity.”

South Carolina’s youth tourists were not the only student delegates in Washington. They were among more than 1,500 representing electric cooperatives across the nation. The students traded their state pins with one another and went on a riverboat dinner cruise along the Potomac River. Students from across the country also gathered for National Youth Day where they learned about the rich history of electric cooperatives and the important role of being an active participant in our democracy.