By Shelley Paik

Shelley Paik was the recent recipient of the Pioneer Utility Resources Dave D’Avanzo Communications Leadership Award for her consistent dedication to communication, leadership, mentorship and service. In this article, Shelley reflects upon her two decades of participation with Youth Tour.

KIUC and Kansas Electric Cooperatives are celebrating their 20-year partnership of traveling together to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Youth Tour.

When KIUC first became a cooperative in 2002, we learned about the Seven Cooperative Principals—including Cooperation Among Cooperatives and Concern for Community—and the different programs offered to us as part of the cooperative world. Our first KIUC Youth tour director, Anne Barnes, was an early advocate. She was passionate about encouraging our youth and providing opportunities for our Kaua‘i keiki.

Youth Tour provides select high school juniors an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., the summer before their senior year to walk in the footsteps of history. While in D.C., they visit historic sights, meet with government leaders and interact with their peers.

As Anne said countless times, “How can we call it Youth Tour if I just took a few students in a taxi around Washington, D.C., to see the sights?”

Anne met with others involved in the NRECA Youth Tour program and determined the best course would be to partner and tour with another state. The partnership provides students the opportunity to meet with others their age who live in a different region and sound different but are essentially similar to them. Anne met with various state directors, hit it off with KEC’s Youth Tour Director Shana Read and the partnership began.

Why Kansas?

At first, it seems odd that Hawai‘i and Kansas would travel together. There are many differences: Hawai‘i is surrounded by the ocean. Kansas is a landlocked state. Many of our political views are different. What stands out are the core values of our students. Family and community play an important role in both states. Through this connection, our partnership has flourished.

In many of our surveys following Youth Tour, delegates refer to it as the trip of a lifetime, and they often form lifelong friendships with those they meet on Youth Tour. By the end of the trip, it feels like our group has formed a new family.

Applications for the 2025 Youth Tour will be available by November, and selected students will be interviewed Monday, January 20, 2025. Students must be available June 11-21, 2025, to participate in the tour.

You may have read about our former delegates in the Where are they now? section in Currents. If you’re a former delegate and we’ve lost touch, please reach out to us at info@kiuc.coop. We would love to hear from you!

KIUC Youth Tour Alumni

• Eva Allyn
• Joveline Alvarez
• Kaye Marie Alvarez
• Morgan Azeka
• Bailey Ponce
• Wiley Barker
• Alexys Bermudez
• Britney Borrero
• Grayson Boyer
• Kamaile Bukoski
• Aldhen Butac
• Bryson Cayaban
• BreeAnn Cayaban
• Braelyn Cayaban
• Alana Cayabyab
• Sage Chaney
• Alyssa Clark
• Kelsey Coleman-Stark
• Kaitlyn Cook
• Riley Davalos
• Jamie Emoto
• Kasey Emoto
• Lauryn Fleming
• Tia Fulks
• Sara Funtanilla
• Jessika Garcia
• Kalei Groves
• Nick Hasegawa
• Jayson Hawthorne
• Tyler Hawthorne
• Josh Herr
• Kelli-Rose Hooser
• Jessica Jacinto
• Dustin Julian
• Michael Julian
• Lacey Kalahiki
• Leilani Kass
• Taylor Langstaff
• Coleman Langstaff
• Neva Leung
• Scott Lopez
• Camden Lorenz
• Jenna Lynch
• Kim Mayfield
• John Medeiros
• Sarah Morioka
• Darrian Skye Muraoka
• Casey Nakamura
• Erin-Marie Navarro
• Alyssa Nishihira
• Amy Niwa
• Haley Okamoto
• Kelli Okayama
• Kierstyn Oshita
• Kaleigh Ramil
• Ian Ramos
• Sophia Riley
• Calvin Rockwell
• Sharla Shimono
• Jena Smalling
• Lily Stokes
• Kristen Sugihara
• Emily Sullivan
• Leanna Thesken
• Taylor Trujillo
• Larissa Tsai
• Dustin Valdez
• Kasaiah Vercelli
• Kehaulani Vidinha
• Kallen Wachi
• Rachel Wright
• Grace Yatsko
• Elisabeth Young