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20 Years of Youth Tour

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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

  1. Eva Allyn
  2. Joveline Alvarez
  3. Kaye Marie Alvarez
  4. Morgan Azeka
  5. Bailey Ponce
  6. Wiley Barker
  7. Alexys Bermudez
  8. Britney Borrero
  9. Grayson Boyer
  10. Kamaile Bukoski
  11. Aldhen Butac
  12. Bryson Cayaban
  13. BreeAnn Cayaban
  14. Braelyn Cayaban
  15. Alana Cayabyab
  16. Sage Chaney
  17. Alyssa Clark
  18. Kelsey Coleman-Stark
  19. Kaitlyn Cook
  20. Riley Davalos
  21. Jamie Emoto
  22. Kasey Emoto
  23. Lauryn Fleming
  24. Tia Fulks
  25. Sara Funtanilla
  26. Jessika Garcia
  27. Kalei Groves
  28. Nick Hasegawa
  29. Jayson Hawthorne
  30. Tyler Hawthorne
  31. Josh Herr
  32. Kelli-Rose Hooser
  33. Jessica Jacinto
  34. Dustin Julian
  35. Michael Julian
  36. Lacey Kalahiki
  37. Leilani Kass
  38. Taylor Langstaff
  39. Coleman Langstaff
  40. Neva Leung
  41. Scott Lopez
  42. Camden Lorenz
  43. Jenna Lynch
  44. Kim Mayfield
  45. John Medeiros
  46. Sarah Morioka
  47. Darrian Skye Muraoka
  48. Casey Nakamura
  49. Erin-Marie Navarro
  50. Alyssa Nishihira
  51. Amy Niwa
  52. Haley Okamoto
  53. Kelli Okayama
  54. Kierstyn Oshita
  55. Kaleigh Ramil
  56. Ian Ramos
  57. Sophia Riley
  58. Calvin Rockwell
  59. Sharla Shimono
  60. Jena Smalling
  61. Lily Stokes
  62. Kristen Sugihara
  63. Emily Sullivan
  64. Leanna Thesken
  65. Taylor Trujillo
  66. Larissa Tsai
  67. Dustin Valdez
  68. Kasaiah Vercelli
  69. Kehaulani Vidinha
  70. Kallen Wachi
  71. Rachel Wright
  72. Grace Yatsko
  73. Elisabeth Young