Scholarships and enrichment programs target the next generation of co-op leaders.
Electric cooperatives in Texas invest in their communities by awarding more than $250,000 each year in college scholarships. They also foster opportunities for youth by supporting local livestock shows, school athletics, student safety education and other programs.
One of the most popular programs around the state is the Government-in-Action Youth Tour, in which participating local cooperatives award all-expense-paid trips to Washington D.C., to select high school juniors and seniors. Students compete—usually through essay contests on assigned topics—for a chaperoned, weeklong tour of the nation’s capital. They visit with their home area representatives in Congress, travel to historic monuments and landmarks, and take in the museums where artifacts of the nation’s birth are preserved.
The East Texas Rural Electric Youth Seminar (ETREYS), an annual leadership conference for high school sophomores and juniors in East Texas, fosters positive ideals and values and enhances skills in leadership, problem solving and interpersonal relationships.