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SSVEC to send local students on the 2010 Washington Youth our
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| Runners-up won $100 each and have the opportunity to go on the tour at their own expense. From left, back row: Nicole Fierro, Levi Webster, Andrew Nolan and Ariel Rieffer; and front: Lauren Chon and Lyrissa Newman. (Photo courtesy/Wayne Crane/SSVEC) |
By Wayne Crane/SSVEC
Six high school juniors will be touring the nation's capital for one week this summer as winners of Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative's (SSVEC's) 30th annual Washington Youth Tour competition. The students were recognized on Tuesday, Nov. 17 following a dinner honoring them and their parents at the Cochise College Benson Center.
The students who earned all-expense-paid trips next June to Washington, D.C. are Kylee Brubaker, Heidy Kartchner and Rachael Larson from St. David High School, Tyson Estelle from Valley Union High School, Julia Prieto from Buena High School, and Forrest Swift from Benson High School.
At the awards presentation SSVEC's Washington Youth Tour program coordinator Marcus Harston explained that all 11th grade students in SSVEC's service territory are eligible for the competition.
"SSVEC personnel visited the nine high schools served by the cooperative and explained the program and left study materials for a preliminary test," said Harston. "In all, more than 700 students took the preliminary test. Those who scored highest on this test at each high school moved to the next level of competition-an essay. This year's essay topic asked students to develop a marketing campaign on renewable energy and "Going Green." The twelve students whose essays scored highest were invited to the final stage of competition this afternoon. The students took a second test covering more complex materials about SSVEC, cooperatives, and energy, and they were interviewed by a panel of four judges."
The six students who advanced to the final competition but did not win the trip, earned $100 each for their efforts and the opportunity to attend the upcoming tour at their own expense. These students are Lauren Chon and Ariel Rieffer from Buena High School, Nicole Fierro and Lyrissa Newman from Bowie High School, and Andrew Nolan and Levi Webster from Willcox High School.
SSVEC Chief Member Services Officer Jack Blair said this program is funded by the SSVEC Foundation and that as a cooperative, SSVEC periodically returns money to its members. When those members move out of the area and leave no forwarding address, SSVEC transfers the money to the SSVEC Foundation.
He said, "This is money that was previously forfeited to the state of Arizona. With the establishment of the Foundation in 1984, the cooperative sponsors not only the Washington Youth Tour, but the annual Youth Engineering and Science Fair and the Foundation Scholarship program."
Essay judges for this year's competition were Emily Marshall, resource analyst, U.S. Army Electronic Proving Ground; Lucy Shaver, retired English instructor for Cochise College in Sierra Vista; Grady Taylor, retired U.S. Army; and Priscilla Vilhauer, manager and member services for Pueblo del Sol Country Club.
Interview judges were Sharon Gilman, director of Cochise College Benson Center; Geoff Oldfather, Communications and Public Relations for Sierra Southwest Cooperative Services; John Shaver, Power Trader for Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (and 1985 Washington Youth Tour participant); and Linda Shaver, Associate Real Estate Broker (and 1988 Washington Youth Tour chaperone).
Chaperones for this year's tour are SSVEC employee Jos/ Baltierrez and his wife Pat. Students will tour Washington, D.C., June 10-17, 2010.
The students who earned all-expense-paid trips next June to Washington, D.C. are Kylee Brubaker, Heidy Kartchner and Rachael Larson from St. David High School, Tyson Estelle from Valley Union High School, Julia Prieto from Buena High School, and Forrest Swift from Benson High School.
At the awards presentation SSVEC's Washington Youth Tour program coordinator Marcus Harston explained that all 11th grade students in SSVEC's service territory are eligible for the competition.
"SSVEC personnel visited the nine high schools served by the cooperative and explained the program and left study materials for a preliminary test," said Harston. "In all, more than 700 students took the preliminary test. Those who scored highest on this test at each high school moved to the next level of competition-an essay. This year's essay topic asked students to develop a marketing campaign on renewable energy and "Going Green." The twelve students whose essays scored highest were invited to the final stage of competition this afternoon. The students took a second test covering more complex materials about SSVEC, cooperatives, and energy, and they were interviewed by a panel of four judges."
The six students who advanced to the final competition but did not win the trip, earned $100 each for their efforts and the opportunity to attend the upcoming tour at their own expense. These students are Lauren Chon and Ariel Rieffer from Buena High School, Nicole Fierro and Lyrissa Newman from Bowie High School, and Andrew Nolan and Levi Webster from Willcox High School.
SSVEC Chief Member Services Officer Jack Blair said this program is funded by the SSVEC Foundation and that as a cooperative, SSVEC periodically returns money to its members. When those members move out of the area and leave no forwarding address, SSVEC transfers the money to the SSVEC Foundation.
He said, "This is money that was previously forfeited to the state of Arizona. With the establishment of the Foundation in 1984, the cooperative sponsors not only the Washington Youth Tour, but the annual Youth Engineering and Science Fair and the Foundation Scholarship program."
Essay judges for this year's competition were Emily Marshall, resource analyst, U.S. Army Electronic Proving Ground; Lucy Shaver, retired English instructor for Cochise College in Sierra Vista; Grady Taylor, retired U.S. Army; and Priscilla Vilhauer, manager and member services for Pueblo del Sol Country Club.
Interview judges were Sharon Gilman, director of Cochise College Benson Center; Geoff Oldfather, Communications and Public Relations for Sierra Southwest Cooperative Services; John Shaver, Power Trader for Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (and 1985 Washington Youth Tour participant); and Linda Shaver, Associate Real Estate Broker (and 1988 Washington Youth Tour chaperone).
Chaperones for this year's tour are SSVEC employee Jos/ Baltierrez and his wife Pat. Students will tour Washington, D.C., June 10-17, 2010.
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