Local high school students Shay Kleinpeter of Redemptorist High School, Josh Knight of Zachary High School, Michael Polozola of Central High School, and Adria Wassom of Parkview Baptist School each won an all-expense paid trip, this coming June, to Washington, D.C. They were the four winners in the DEMCO 2007 Rural Electric Youth Tour Essay Contest.

The Rural Electric Youth Tour Essay Contest is an annual event that, this year, included essay entries from nearly 300 students throughout DEMCO's seven-parish service area. Each student who participated wrote an original essay on one of three topics: Electricity and you, How can I make my community a better place to live? or What is good in my community?

The four winners were selected March 6, 2007 during a banquet honoring the 12 finalists, their families, teachers, and school principals. The banquet was held at John Folse's White Oak Plantation in Baton Rouge.

The other eight finalists included the following area students: Kaylee Couvillion and Logan Murray of Parkview Baptist School; Coutrney Eddleman of Central High School; Rebecca Braun, Kayla Hawley, and Brian Spurlin of Redemptorist High School; Richard Labranche of Our Lady of the Rosary Home School; and James Kane of West Feliciana High School.

Featured speaker Melvin 'Kip' Holden, Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish, praised the students for their excellent presentations and commended DEMCO for providing this opportunity to area youths.

"Bring honor to your communities and pour your heart into your work," Holden urged the students, "but never forget that those who care the most will make the most difference in the world. The road to success is not straight."

Each finalist was judged on the oral presentation of his or her essay. The finalists also completed a short test on their knowledge of DEMCO and rural electrification.

DEMCO's four Youth Tour winners will join about 25 other Louisiana students in mid-April for the Louisiana Youth Tour Leadership Conference to be held in Baton Rouge. During the conference, the students will learn more about cooperative business principles, form and operate a mini-cooperative business, and will also learn about the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.

The same Louisiana Youth Tour students will leave for a weeklong trip to Washington, D.C in mid-June. While in Washington, D.C., the Louisiana Youth Tour participants will visit the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Supreme Court, National Archives, Arlington Cemetery, and many other historic buildings and landmarks. They will also join about 1,200 other Youth Tour participants from around the nation to learn more about electric cooperatives.

2007 marks the 30th year DEMCO has sponsored students in the Youth Tour program. The purpose of the Youth Tour program is to provide outstanding youths with an insight into how their national government operates.

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