Cullman Electric
2015 Montgomery Youth Tour Ten local high school students attend leadership conference sponsored by electric co-ops The Alabama Rural Electric Association (AREA) 2015 Montgomery Youth Tour was hosted March 10-12 at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center. More than 140 high school students from across the state gathered for leadership training, tours of the many historical stops in Montgomery, civics lessons and a whole lot of fun. Each year, Cullman Electric Cooperative takes 11 students — one junior from each of the high schools in Cullman EC’s service area — on the threeday trip to Montgomery. This year’s group included Michael Zimmerman(Addison), Lucas Gay (Cold Springs), Taiya Ponder (Cullman), Jessica Patterson (Fairview), James Wright (Good Hope), Miranda Carnell (Hanceville), Tiffany Blackmon (Holly Pond), Mackenzie Cleghorn (Meek), Anna Gongre (St. Bernard) and Ethan Barnette (West Point). Guest speaker for the event was Cea Cohen-Elliot, who shared stories with the students on the importance of leadership and how high school students 8 APRIL 2015
One of the many places Cullman EC’s Youth Tour group visited in Montgomery was the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was pastor from 1954-1960.
can be leaders in their community. She also led the group in a variety of team-building games and activities. The students arrived on Tuesday for the first session with Cohen-Elliot followed by dinner and a night of fun at a local bowling alley. On Wednesday, the students did leadership and team-building exercises in the morning before splitting into four groups in the afternoon. Cullman EC’s students joined a group that toured the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., helped start the Civil Right Movement, and the “Alabama Voices” exhibit inside the Alabama Archives building. The group also toured the state Capitol, the first White House of the Confederacy and visited the Civil Rights Memorial. The busy day ended with dinner and a dance at the Capital City Club on the 22nd floor of the Re-
gions Bank building. The students returned to Cullman on Thursday afternoon, but not before visiting the State House and meeting several legislators, including Cullman County representatives Randall Shedd, and stopping for ice cream on the drive home at Peach Park in Clanton.
Lucas Gay, left, and Anna Gongre were selected to represent Cullman EC this summer as part of Alabama’s delegation to the Washington, D.C. Youth Tour. More than 1,600 high school students from all across the United States will attend the weeklong conference in June. A www.cullmanec.com