The trip begins with a “Get Acquainted Banquet” in Oklahoma City, where everyone meets, makes new acquaintances and has an evening of fun. After arriving in Washington, D.C., the tour of our nation’s capitol includes days filled with sightseeing, a riverboat trip on the Potomac and breakfast with Oklahoma’s Congressional delegation.

Cimarron Electric sponsors an annual contest to select students who will represent their service area as well as the state of Oklahoma during the Youth Tour.

The contest will require you to take a test (including multiple choice, fill-in the-blank, true/false, and essay) over electric cooperative history and Cimarron Electric Cooperative.

Seven finalists are selected from the highest test scores to compete at the CEC Youth Tour Banquet. Finalists are required to interview before a panel of judges and participate in a game show quiz type format.

Judges at the banquet award the Youth Tour Trip to the top three individuals at the conclusion of the banquet.
 

Objectives of the Youth Tour

The Youth Tour has three main objectives:

1. To educate youths on all aspects of rural electrification in order to promote a better understanding of the value of rural electric cooperatives.

2. To provide an opportunity for youth to visit monuments, government buildings and cooperative-related organizations in order to become familiar with the historical and political environment of their nation's capital.

3. To provide an opportunity for youth to meet elected officials in order to better understand how their federal government works.

Official Contest Rules

• Three juniors from CEC's service area will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. as winners of the Youth Tour Contest.

• Students must currently be classified as high school juniors attending a school in CEC's nine county service area. It is not necessary that the student's parents be members of Cimarron Electric Cooperative, Inc.

• Contestants will be required to take a test of approximately 45 questions in length on history and heritage of rural electric cooperatives and Cimarron Electric Cooperative.

• CEC supplies reference materials, but encourages students to seek other sources of information, including libraries, relatives, magazines, internet, etc. Resources are listed below.

• The deadline for the contest will be announced each year.

• Seven finalists will be selected to give interviews and participate in a game show quiz during the Youth Tour banquet. Judges will then award the Washington trip to the three highest scoring finalists. The four runner-up students will receive $100.00 cash.

• Decisions of the judges are final.

Resources

The web sites below contain facts, figures and stories that may be helpful as you prepare your essay. CEC in no way endorses these sites or the companies and organizations they represent. It is the responsibility of each contestant to verify the accuracy of all facts and figures found within these materials.

History of American Electric Cooperatives

> The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
> History of other Oklahoma Electric Cooperatives
> The Rochdale Cooperative & The REA
> The REA and the New Deal

Cooperative Information

> The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
> The University of California - Davis Center for Cooperatives
> Cooperative.org
> The National Cooperative Business Association
> Understanding Cooperatives - The USDA
> Rural Development in America

Additional Resources

> Youth Tour Brochure
> Youth Tour Poster
> Youth Tour Contest Entry
> Co-op Q and A
> Consumers in Action
> Cimarron Electric Cooperative: Yesterday and Today

For Information:
Jeff Hyatt
Member Services
(405) 375-4121 or (800) 375-4121