Category: General

It’s the trip of a lifetime for sons and daughters of co-op members.

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NRECA Youth Tour of Washington, D.C.

June 17-22, 2022

Oconto Electric is pleased to choose one delegate to represent our local co-op at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. The trip is hosted by NRECA and all expenses are paid by Oconto Electric, according to our cooperative principles to support youth and community.

Any current high school sophomore or junior whose parent or guardian is a residential member of Oconto Electric Cooperative is eligible. (Residential is defined as having the primary residence within OEC’s service territory.)

Applications must be submitted on or before December 17, 2021. Applications received after December 17, 2021, will not be considered.

Government-in-Action Youth Tour

Visiting a place like Washington, D.C., might sound like a far-away dream for high school students who grow up in rural Wisconsin. But every year, several cooperative students are given the opportunity to travel to the capital for an intensive weeklong tour—and it doesn’t cost them a dime.

In June, the Wisconsin Government-in-Action Youth Tour, sponsored by the state’s rural electric cooperatives in conjunction with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, sends select students on an all-expense-paid trip to the nation’s capital. In Washington, tour participants get to see with their own eyes, sights many have only experienced in history books or on television. 

In addition to visiting monuments, museums, and historical sites that would be part of any standard tour, the students also fulfill the goal of then U.S. Sen. Lyndon Johnson, who inspired the Youth Tour in 1957, for young people to “actually see what the flag stands for and represents.”

Tour participants get to meet their Members of Congress, hear inspirational speakers, and interact with other Youth Tour participants from across the country. Additionally, Wisconsin students have the chance to witness in the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, see the Sunset Parade at the Iwo Jima War Memorial, and tour the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives chambers.

During the intense week on the go—traveling, eating and touring together—many of the Youth Tour participants form fast friendships that continue after they return home. Inspired by their trip, many Youth Tour alumni have gone on to become co-op leaders or perform other public service. Ask almost any of the alumni about their experience, and they will describe it as “the trip of a lifetime.”

Click here for application.

Community Change is a project of Oconto Electric Cooperative. Members can sign up to have their electric bills rounded up to the next whole dollar, with the extra money going into the Community Change fund. In addition, due to the generosity of the former Bay Lakes Cooperative, Community Change has additional funding available for this special grant. To be considered, an organization should show through this grant application how an innovative idea for funding could provide far-reaching enhancement for a neighborhood or community. Grant(s) will be awarded to projects being done in the footprint of the former Bay Lakes territory and the current Oconto Electric service territory. Request not to exceed $4,000 (grant total could be split based on the nature and scope of applications received). Grant application deadline is March 1, 2021.

Applications can be found here.