Youth Tour

What if one summer could open your eyes to new places, new possibilities and your own potential to make a difference? Youth Tour gives high school juniors the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., experience our nation’s capital, meet students from across the country and make memories that will last a lifetime! But Youth Tour is about more than seeing the sights. It’s about discovering your voice, building leadership skills and connecting with people who are making a difference in their communities.

Your future is yours to shape. Your voice matters. Make your mark. Apply for Youth Tour today!

Contest Details

2027 YOUTH TOUR CONTEST

All high school juniors attending schools within the Cotton Electric Cooperative service territory are invited to enter the 2027 Cotton Electric Youth Tour contest. The contest is broken into two rounds and starts with the written letter portion.

ROUND 1: Students will write a professional letter to a local, state or federal elected official about any topic that is important to the student.

ROUND 2: Writers of the top 10 letters move to the second round, a live video interview, via Microsoft Teams. The question-and-answer interview between students and judges will be arranged by Cotton Electric.

The top two presenters will be awarded an All-Expense-Paid trip to Washington D.C.!

The 3rd and 4th place students will be alternates, and the top five presenters will be awarded a $100 gift card.

To enter the contest, simply fill out the form on this page!

The contest is open to all high school juniors attending or residing within the district of the schools listed below, including home-schooled students.

The schools are: Big Pasture, Cache, Central High, Chattanooga, Comanche, Duncan, Elgin, Empire, Geronimo, Grandfield, Hope Academy, Indiahoma, Lawton Eisenhower, Lawton High, Lawton MacArthur, Marlow, Ryan, Sterling, Temple, Velma-Alma, Walters and Waurika

Some schools listed may include students whose parents receive electric service from another electric cooperative. If their electric cooperative does not participate in Youth Tour, such students will be allowed to enter Cotton Electric Cooperative’s contest. If their cooperative sponsors a Youth Tour contest, those students have an option to choose between the two cooperatives. Students will be ineligible if they enter more than one essay or more than one contest.

Juniors who are sons or daughters of Cotton Electric Cooperative employees or board members are not eligible to participate.

IMPORTANT DATES
Oct. 1, 2026 Contest opens for entries.
Jan. 14, 2027 Essay deadline – Essays must be submitted online by 3 p.m.
Feb. 2, 2027 Live video interviews with the Top 10
Feb. 3, 2027 Winners are selected
Feb. 26, 2027 Youth Tour winner info due to OAEC
April 21-22, 2027 YT Orientation & Day at the Capitol (Attendance on the 22nd is mandatory)
June 18-23, 2027 Oklahoma Youth Tour trip to Washington, D.C.

Applicants will write a professional letter to a local, state or federal elected official about a topic that is important to them. A template is available in the resources tab on the Youth Tour page.
Fill out all required fields and upload the letter referenced above at www.cottonelectric.com/youthtour.
Deadline is 3 p.m., January 14, 2027 for uploading completed applications.
BE ORIGINAL!
Letters will be judged by the following criteria: Knowledge of subject, 40%; Professionalism, 40%; Grammar, 10%; and Spelling & Punctuation, 10%.
Judges will score the essays and will narrow the pool of candidates to the Top 10.
In the second round of competition, the Top 10 students will be invited to participate in a live-video interview to discuss their letter and general cooperative knowledge with judges. Interview questions will be drawn from the Resource materials listed on the Youth Tour page.
The two top presenters will be awarded an all-expense-paid trip (valued at $4,000 per student) to Washington D.C. in June 2027.
The third and fourth place students will be alternates. The top five students will receive a $100 gift card.
Judges’ decisions throughout the process are final.

Students selected and sponsored by Cotton Electric Cooperative are expected to participate in required preparatory activities related to Oklahoma Your Tour and the full duration of the student program, including group travel to and from Washington, D.C. The student experience has a program value of $4,000 per participant. While cancellations are unfortunate, cancellations received/processed 60-days prior to the day of registration are appreciated and needed to allow cooperatives to find alternate student participants.

Families of selected students who cancel less than 60-days prior to the day of registration, may be responsible for reimbursing the sponsoring cooperative up to 50% of the program value. No shows and families of selected students failing to notify their sponsoring cooperative of nonparticipation, may be held responsible for reimbursing 100% of the program value.

Resources

Deadline to enter the contest is 3 PM on January 14, 2027.

All high school juniors attending schools within the Cotton Electric Cooperative service territory are invited to enter the Cotton Electric Youth Tour Contest. The contest has two phases and the top two entries will be awarded an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. To enter the contest, fill out the form below and upload your entry.

First Name

Last Name

Parent/Guardian 1

Parent/Guardian Email

Parent/Guardian 2

Parent/Guardian Email

Address

Address 2

City/Town

State/Province

ZIP/Postal Code

Country

Student's email

Student's phone

Student's School

Teacher, counselor or sponsor name:

How did you hear about Youth Tour?

Teacher/Counselor

Friends/Family

Other…

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Contest Information

Contest Guidelines

Cancellation Policy

More Information

Professional Letter Template

7 Cooperative Principles

Co-op 101

Cotton Electric History

Annual Report