Lake Country Power will sponsor Apres Surla of Britt, Minn., to attend what has been called a ‘trip of a lifetime’ to Washington, D.C., on the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. She will travel in June with nearly 40 Minnesota students where she’ll join 1,500 high school students from across the country. Surla will be a junior this fall at Rock Ridge High School.

“The main reason I want to go on the Youth Tour is because I want to learn more about the history of the United States, its government, what makes the U.S. possible, and potential future careers,” said Surla. “To me, an electric cooperative is an organization that allows someone who resides in the country to live comfortably and makes unique country-living possible.” Surla has many long-lasting memories of living in rural Minnesota thanks to her electric cooperative – Lake Country Power.  

Each summer, the Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA) organizes and leads Minnesota’s student delegation to Washington, D.C., with local electric cooperatives like Lake Country Power sponsoring the students on tour. 

Students will spend one full day on Capitol Hill, meet with legislators, tour the Capitol, and visit the Library of Congress. They’ll take a class about electric cooperatives as taught by the National Rural Electric Association. Students will also learn about American history as they tour the Potomac Park monuments, Arlington Cemetery, Iwo Jima Memorial, Mount Vernon, Old Town Alexandria, Holocaust Museum, Smithsonian Institutions, Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, National Archives, and the National Mall.   

Since 1958, the nation’s electric cooperatives have sponsored more than 58,000 high school students on the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour – a joint effort between the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, statewide electric cooperative associations like MREA and local electric cooperatives. 

For more information, visit https://www.electric.coop/our-organization/youth-programs, www.mrea.org/programs-1/ and www.lakecountrypower.coop/youth-tour.