Youth tour winners attend Cooperative Youth Leadership Conference in Baton Rouge

Twenty-seven local high school students gathered in Baton Rouge on March 30-April 1 to attend a Cooperative Youth Leadership Conference, meet with state officials and learn more about Louisiana’s electric cooperative system.

All participants were winners of the annual statewide Youth Tour Essay Contest.  In addition to this conference, the students will embark on an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., on June 10-17. Each year the national “Government in Action” Youth Tour event attracts over 1,500 students to Washington from 36 states across the country.

Representing Pointe Coupee Electric (PCE) at the state and national conferences this year are: Caitlyn Chenevert, Port Allen; Payton Gremillion, New Roads and Ashley Pierce, Plaquemine.  Representing NRG Energy (Louisiana Generating), the wholesale power provider for PCE and other consumer-owned electric utilities across the state, are: Amanda Marcum, Port Allen; Kayla Mims, Fordoche and Anelcia Rayford, New Roads.

“We’re proud to be able to sponsor these outstanding students and to support both the educational and cultural development of our local youth,” said PCE General Manager J.H. “Jodie” Cotten. “Part of our mission as a locally-owned electric cooperative is to do whatever we can to improve the quality of life and expand opportunities for our members and the community.”

The meeting in Baton Rouge was hosted by the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives together with eight Louisiana electric distribution cooperatives from around the state, including PCE.

In Baton Rouge, the local delegates spent two days meeting their fellow Youth Tour Essay Contest winners, touring the old State Capitol and new State Capitol, touring the NRG power generation plants in New Roads, visiting with their elected officials and learning more about the cooperative business model. While in Washington this summer, the Youth Tour delegates will visit the offices of Louisiana's representatives and senators, the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian Institution, Arlington National Cemetery and other historical and government sites.

Chaperones for this year’s tour are Mrs. Sandy Stockwell, Tour Director for the Assn. of La. Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (ALEC), Baton Rouge, Addie Armato, Pointe Coupee Electric, and EmmaLee Tingle from Claiborne Electric Cooperative along with her husband Heath Tingle.

Pictured from left to right are Pointe Coupee Electric Youth Tour winner Payton Gremillion of New Roads, Representative Major Thibaut, and Pointe Coupee Electric Youth Tour winner Caitlyn Chenevert of Port Allen.

Pictured from left to right are Representative Karen St. Germain and PCE Youth Tour winner Ashley Pierce of Plaquemine.

Pictured from left to right are NRG Youth Tour winner Amanda Marcum of Port Allen, Representative Major Thibaut, and NRG Youth Tour winners Kayla Mims of Fordoche and Anelcia Rayford of New Roads.