What exactly does this opportunity entail and what will my child be doing on the trip back to D.C.?
The Youth Leadership Council is a program made up of 44 delegates – One from each state participating in Youth Tour. These participants are selected by their state’s staff and peers to represent them on a national level. (Woohoo! This means your kid is a stand-out!)
When YLC’sters return to D.C. in July, they will have prepared a speech – Each is required to give their speech at some point during our time together. The individual who gives the best speech will be selected as our YLC Spokesperson. This individual will recite their speech to roughly 6,000 – 10,000 co-op leaders during NRECA’s Annual Meeting in NOLA and will also be invited back to Washington, D.C. the following June for Youth Tour to act as a junior chaperone and present their speech one final time for the 2020 Youth Tour delegation.
In addition to the speeches, we tour NRECA’s headquarters and meet with senior leaders in various departments. We will also tour other affiliated businesses and associations in the D.C. area.
Delegates will participate in a cooperative leadership course with Adam Schwartz, founder and president of The Cooperative Way. There, they will be assigned “homework” to be completed before we are reunited again in NOLA. Those students who have the best homework submissions will be eligible for additional leadership opportunities at NRECA’s Annual Meeting.
We invite a motivational speaker to work with attendees as well. The evenings will be spent doing fun “D.C.things” … activities usually not normally done during Youth Tour. Previous years we have attended Nationals baseball games, taken ghost walks around the D.C. area, spent the evening at Top Golf, and worked to free ourselves from escape rooms.
Who will be chaperoning? Is there an adult from our state who will be going/traveling with our delegate?
The week is chaperoned by three state Youth Tour Directors (this year, they are from Hawaii, Mississippi, and Indiana) myself, and eight staff assistants, or “BlueShirts” – They are all program alums.
Chances are, there will not be an adult attending from your state.
In closing, your child is going to make connections with kids from all over the country – They will truly have a friend in every state (well, almost!).
YLC has led to some phenomenal internships around the country, scholarships, and employment opportunities.
At the risk of closing on a very cheesy sentiment …. It truly is the Trip of a Lifetime!