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Essay Winners Return from Washington, D.C.
Three area high school juniors returned from Washington, D.C., in mid-June, joining 81 fellow high school students from across Missouri. Parker Leatherman, Chillicothe; April Kiehl, Meadville; and Cody Pieper, Stet, were winners in Farmers’ Electric’s 45th annual Youth Tour to Washington Essay Contest. The six-day tour provided an action-filled week for the students, offering them opportunities to learn first-hand what it is like to be involved in politics, community service and today's pressing issues. Highlights included a special session on Capitol Hill with Senators Christopher Bond and Claire McCaskill to discuss the process of government and issues of the day and increase their knowledge of cooperative electric utilities and American history. The young people also visited with representatives from their congressional districts, toured famous monuments, the Smithsonian Institution's museums and Arlington National Cemetery. The group also took a sightseeing and dance cruise on the Potomac River one evening with delegates from other states. Other events of the week included participation in the Electric Youth Day, during which a special program coordinated by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association brought together over 1,500 Youth Tour delegates from across the United States. Since 1964, REC’s have sponsored over 40,000 students to Washington, D.C. 45th Annual
Youth Tour to Washington Winners 2008 April Kiehl, a junior at Meadville High School, is the winner of the 45th annual Youth Tour to Washington Essay Contest sponsored by Farmers’ Electric Cooperative. Kiehl is the fourth consecutive Meadville student to win the cooperative’s essay contest. The essay contest was open to every junior class student in FEC’s nine-county service territory, which includes 26 high schools. “Providing the opportunity for students throughout our service territory to visit and take part in educational activities at the national and state level is one of our favorite programs during the year,” said Mike Sanders, Farmers’ Electric CEO. Kiehl is the daughter of Don and Lori Kiehl of Meadville. The top three essayists in the contest won trips to the nation’s capitol. Also winning all-expense paid trips to Washington, D.C., were Parker Leatherman, the son of Dan and Patty Leatherman, Chillicothe; and Cody Pieper, the son of Loren and Karen Pieper, Braymer. Leatherman attends Chillicothe High School and Pieper attends Stet high School. Winning trips to the Cooperative Youth Conference and Leadership Experience (C.Y.C.L.E.) were Kaleb Newham, the son of Mike and Chris Newham, Norborne, Stet High School; Arriane Gabert, the daughter of Mark Gabert and Saundra Burk, Norborne, Stet High School; and Molly Cline, the daughter of Thomas and Lynda Cline, Richmond, Stet High School. The C.Y.C.L.E. conference will be held July 23-25 in Jefferson City. Staff members at the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and guest motivational speakers will provide programming on the cooperative business model, including having the students form their own cooperatives. Also on the agenda, students at the C.Y.C.L.E. conference will play the role of a State Representative for an afternoon. The students will take part in debating a bill on the House floor in the state capitol building. |
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CAPTION:
From left, Parker Leatherman, Chillicothe High School, April Kiehl, Meadville
High School, and Cody Pieper, Stet High School, were the essay contest winners from
FEC for 2008.