Powered by Purpose, Rooted in Community: Cooperative Youth Plug Into Leadership Roles this Summer
By: Barbara Jenkins & Emily Reames
Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative (AVECC) is proud to announce the successful completion of the 2025 Youth Tour! All area high school juniors whose parents or guardians were AVECC members were eligible to apply for this incredible opportunity.
Each finalist attended an in-person interview at the AVECC headquarters in Ozark for a chance to win this trip of a lifetime, and the competition wasstrong.
Phoebe Hopper from Magazine, Allison Ober from Lamar, and Elysia Cox from Scranton were selected to represent AVECC and the River Valley on the 2025 Youth Tour, an all-expenses-paid educational journey to Washington, D.C., and, for the first time, Philadelphia. The trip took place from June 14-20. In addition to the unforgettable experience, each participant received a $500 scholarship from AVECC.
Youth Tour is a leadership-oriented program designed to help students engage with their community and local electric cooperative. As representatives of AVECC, these students joined peers from electric cooperatives across the nation in Washington, D.C., to explore the rich history of the United States. During the trip, the young ladies had the unique opportunity to meet with U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, as well as visit famous landmarks such as the Liberty Bell, the Smithsonian Institution, the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and the U.S. Capitol.
While in the nation's capital, students from Arkansas nominated our very own Allison Ober to further her Youth Tour experience and become the sole student to represent our state as the Arkansas Youth Leadership Council (YLC) representative. This well-deserved honor earned Allison a $5,000 scholarship from the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, another free trip to Washington, D.C., this summer and to the Leadership Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, in March, with all expenses paid. YLC is a 45-person delegation, representing each state with an electric cooperative. This council focuses on an educational curriculum designed to refine leadership skills and generate awareness about the network of electric cooperatives.
It is a true honor to have a student from the River Valley selected as a YLC representative, and we are confident that Allison will represent us exceptionally well.