Nearly 100 high school students representing Kentucky’s electric cooperatives gathered at the Kentucky Capitol on February 21 for the Frankfort Youth Tour, a program designed to offer rising young leaders a personal understanding of American history, civic engagement and their role as citizens and members of electric cooperatives.
Students were welcomed by Rocky Adkins, senior advisor to the governor, before touring the Capitol and attending meetings of the Senate Health Services and Senate Natural Resource and Energy committees. Throughout the busy day, students interacted with legislators and elected official in the hallways and heard from Gov. Andy Beshear and Rep. Samara Heavrin about their legislative priorities and issues facing Kentuckians. In June, many of these students will travel to our nation’s capital during the Washington Youth Tour.
The 2024 students representing Farmers RECC are: Cainin Woodard, daughter of Cornelius and Sonya Woodard of Glasgow; Emma Warren, daughter of Travis and Donna Warren of Glasgow; Emma Sanders, daughter of Chris and Christina Sanders of Cub Run; and Alyssa Ann Williams, granddaughter of Tamara Poore of Edmonton.
Since the inception of the youth tour program, co-ops have sponsored more than 1,800 Kentucky high school students in Washington D.C. and thousands more in Frankfort. Farmers RECC is proud to invest in our future leaders.
In conjunction with Frankfort Youth Tour was the launch of the 2024 Co-ops Vote initiative—a non-partisan effort to boost voter turnout in the areas served by rural electric cooperatives. Secretary of State Michael Adams spoke to students about the importance of being involved in the democratic process and making their voices heard by voting.
“Over the past four years, our commonwealth has received attention and praise nationally, and even internationally, for how we conduct our elections,” Adams says. “I encourage all Kentucky voters to take advantage of the increased ease in voting, and to be heard.”
Sophia Stover, a 2023 Youth Tour alum and Co-ops Vote ambassador, along with Hardin County Clerk Brian Smith, shared their experience launching the first county-level Co-ops Vote project.
“I implore you to see voting not just as a right, but as a privilege that generations before us fought tirelessly to secure,” Stover told youth tour students. “Let's honor their sacrifices by actively participating in the democratic process. Our future is in our hands, and it's up to us to shape it.”