Your News
Stay up to date on what’s happening with Youth Tour. The trip has been around for more than 50 years and still is making headlines.
Magazine Celebrates All Things Youth Tour
June 1, 2017
The third annual Your Tour magazine, published by Texas Electric Cooperatives, arrived in June. The publication aims to excite future Youth Tour participants while keeping Texas alumni connected to their friends, communities and electric cooperatives.
The magazine pairs entertaining articles about the program’s history, progress and participants with lively graphics. The 2017 edition of Your Tour features inspirational alumni profiles, a recount of the 2016 students’ wreath-laying ceremony experience at Arlington National Cemetery, and testimonies about the trip from recent participants. New this year is a “grazing section” that showcases tidbits and photos that capture the spirit of Youth Tour’s past and present.
Your Tour has been shipped to participating co-ops, will be on display at the 2017 Youth Tour orientation in Austin, and will be mailed to all Youth Tour alumni with known addresses and to this year’s 147 participants.
House Passes Resolution
May 20, 2015
Texas Electric Cooperative’s celebration of 50 years of participation in the Government-in-Action Youth Tour included the adoption of House Resolution 2553 congratulating member cooperatives and the program for sending thousands of high school students to Washington, D.C.
Rep. Brooks Landgraf of Odessa sponsored the resolution. He was joined at the dais by 10 representatives who have electric co-ops in their districts and wanted to support Landgraf in presenting the resolution on the House floor May 20. Watch Landgraf deliver the House Resolution on the House floor here.
Landgraf attended Youth Tour as an Odessa Permian High School student in 1998, one of 3,719 Texans who have made the trip since 1965. “I’m proud to say I’m one of them,” he said. “In fact, that was one of my first experiences with public service.”
Eric Craven, TEC’s senior vice president of government relations and legal affairs, said the resolution shows the Legislature recognizes co-ops’ commitment to helping develop future leaders. “Rep. Landgraf and the others who joined him showed their support not only for the Youth Tour but for electric co-ops generally,” he said.
Youth Tour 2015 kicks off June 10 in Austin, where the 125 teens will join past participants for an anniversary celebration. The next day, they’ll tour the Capitol and other sites before heading to Washington for a week.
This month also marks the debut of Your Tour magazine, which will be published annually to help keep all Texas participants connected to each other and to the program. Alumni and future participants also can stay informed at the Texas Youth Tour Alumni page on Facebook.
Party Reunites Alumni
May 1, 2015
This year, electric cooperatives in Texas celebrate 50 years of the Texas Youth Tour, and to mark the occasion, Texas Electric Cooperatives is throwing a party.
The Texas Youth Tour Anniversary Celebration and Reunion Dinner will be held June 10 at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
“The purpose of the reunion is to connect past and present Youth Tour participants with their cooperatives and memories by providing an opportunity to reminisce about this life-changing trip,” said Martin Bevins, TEC vice president of Communications & Member Services. “These people shared something unique, and it’s time we brought them together.”
The event commemorates Texas electric cooperatives’ sponsoring youths on the Government-in-Action Youth Tour every year since 1965. The national program, sponsored by local co-ops and coordinated by TEC and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, sends high school students to Washington, D.C., for a fun and educational trip.
“For the past five decades, electric cooperatives have been empowering young people to improve the quality of their lives, their communities and their futures by sending them to Washington, D.C., to represent their hometown cooperatives and see their American heritage,” said TEC President/CEO Mike Williams.
All generations of Texas alumni are invited to join the 2015 delegation of Texas youths the night before they embark on their journey, which has been called the trip of a lifetime. The evening features guest speakers, including Youth Tour alumni from Texas’ inaugural trip, last year’s Youth Leadership Council member and Williams.
Dinner is complimentary for all Texas Youth Tour alumni. Guests are welcome with the purchase of a $47 ticket payable in advance. Please RSVP with your name, Youth Tour year, name(s) of guest(s), total number attending and corresponding check made out to: TEC/Youth Tour, 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701 or email YouthTour@texas-ec.org. Please RSVP by June 3.