Among the 26 high school students who attended a Youth Leadership Conference in Baton Rouge, April 11-13, in preparation for a weeklong educational trip to Washington, D. C. this June, are four essay winners from Beauregard Electric Cooperative (BECi).
“BECi’s annual Washington, D.C. Youth Tour has a profound affect on most of the students who earn it,” proclaims Dr. Cheryl Ware, the McNeese University English Professor who has judged the contest since the mid-1980s.
BECi hosts the tour, as well as the conference, together with nine other Louisiana distribution cooperatives from around the state. Since 1979, BECi has sponsored 97 local students who have attended the “Government-in-Action” Youth Tour.
There were 32 entries in this year’s competition with six of the top ten essays coming from DeRidder High School. The top ten entries came from: MarLana Ford, Rosalia Badger, Amanda “Mandy” Brown, Eleni Maskas, John Lombard and Marianna Matlock of DeRidder High; Maggy Martin of Rosepine High; Aron Hughes, Crossroads Homeschool; Samuel Carroll, Pitkin High; and Claire Galley, Sulphur High.
This year’s Youth Tour winners are: Rosalia Badger, Amanda “Mandy” Brown, MarLana Ford and John Lombard, all of DeRidder High School. Eleni Maskas originally was among the top four but had to decline due to a prior commitment. Melinda Shirley was the sponsoring DeRidder High teacher.
“The essays were of high caliber in thought, development and organization. The students are to be commended,” Dr. Ware observed, noting that while there were fewer essays submitted this year than in the past, the topic provoked thoughtful and substantive responses.
BECi's Youth Tour winners joined other Louisiana high school students for a training session during the Leadership Conference held April 11-13 in Baton Rouge where they formed and operated mock cooperatives, toured the "Big Cajun II" power plant in New Roads and spent an afternoon touring the State Capitol.
In June, the students return to Baton Rouge and then travel to Washington, D.C. where they will join over 1,500 students from 36 states. While in Washington, they 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.
Read the winning essays
Rosalia Badger
Amanda “Mandy” Brown
MarLana Ford
John Lombard
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