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Eight students from Andalusia, Opp, Elba and Pike County high schools were selected as PowerSouth’s 2020 Youth Tour winners and runners-up during interviews in February. On March 10-12, they will attend the annual Montgomery Youth Tour.

The students—Ian Martin and Rosemary Bass from Andalusia High School, Taylor Carnley and Evie Younce from Opp High School, John Wilson and Andrea Jimenez from Elba High School, and Joshlyn Johnson and Shateriona Edwards from Pike County High School—are joining hundreds of other Youth Tour winners from across Alabama in the state capital to learn more about government, the legislative process and the rural electrification program.

As Youth Tour winners, Martin, Carnley, Wilson and Johnson will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., in June to participate in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) Youth Tour with more than 1,500 students from all across America to watch history come alive in our nation’s capital as they explore museums, memorials and monuments. The students will also have the opportunity to meet with their U.S. Representatives. As the winners, they will become part of a group that has more than 50,000 alumni in every walk of life including U.S. Senators and CEOs.

The eight students were chosen based on their performance on written essays, written tests and an interview competition at PowerSouth’s headquarters in Andalusia.

PowerSouth has participated in the Youth Tour program for more than 30 years, sponsoring students from Andalusia, Elba, Opp and Pike County high schools.

The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has brought high school students to Washington, D.C., every June since the late 1950s, and more than 50,000 students from across America have participated in this unique program.