An Escambia Academy student was among four young people that Southern Pine Electric Co-op recently sponsored to attend the National Rural Electric Youth Tour in Washington, D.C., in June.

Bradley Campbell of EA attended the event, along with Sidney Bailey of Excel High School, Morgan Ard of Monroe County High School and Alex Dunn of Sparta Academy.

The National Rural Electric Youth Tour, sponsored by local electric cooperatives, the Alabama Rural Electric Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, is part of a grassroots program to educate high school juniors on the electric cooperative program and the ideas for which it stands.

In June, approximately 47 students from Alabama traveled to Washington D.C., joining more than 1,500 students from across the nation. The youth tour experience is filled with fun activities, but its overall purpose is to increase students’ understanding of the value of rural electrification, and to help them become more familiar with our nation’s capital through visits to monuments, government buildings and cooperative organizations.

In addition, the tour includes visits to elected officials, to increase the students’ knowledge of how the federal government works.