Youth Energy Camp
Youth Energy Camp
Rural Electric Youth Energy Camp is an Annual week-long event located at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp near Halsey, Nebraska. The week includes fun activities, including sports tournaments, canoeing, dancing, a get-acquainted party, and some free time to socialize and make new friends. Students will learn about energy generation, electric safety, and careers in the rural electric program.
Students run this camp and make the organizational decisions. Chaperones are only along to do just that, chaperone.
Students who, by the date of the camp, have completed 9th, 10th or 11th grade are eligible. The applicants must be living in the household of a member or employee of Niobrara Electric Association, Inc. Those attending camp will compete to win a free trip to Washington, D. C. as ambassadors and/or return to the following year's camp as a junior counselor.
Contact our office for more information and an application for camp.
Washington, D.C. Youth Tour
The Youth Tour is an annual, week-long, all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., that is open to high school students who have participated in the Youth Energy Camp. Nationwide, rural electric providers from 41 states participate. In all, more than 1,500 young people from across the nation gather in Washington, D.C. each year for this event.
High school students who attend the energy camp have the opportunity to compete for a chance to participate as state ambassadors in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's (NRECA) Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. in June the following year. All ambassador expenses are paid by the Nebraska Rural Electric Association and through a scholarship provided by Union Bank and Trust. Three students are selected by their peers to serve as ambassadors.
The ambassador competition involves submitting an application at Youth Energy Camp, presenting a self-introduction speech, and delivering a five-minute speech on an assigned topic. Each camper votes for three candidates following the speech with the top male, top female, and person with the next highest vote total becoming next year's ambassadors. The top six finalists and ties are invited to return to next year's Youth Energy Camp as junior counselors.