An Educational Experience

An Educational Experience

Students represent Ben Lomand Connect at the FRS Youth Tour

A trip to Washington, D.C. was not only fun but also educational for two students representing Ben Lomand Connect at the 2019 Foundation for Rural Service Youth Tour.

Leah Hiett, a 16-year-old junior at Grundy County High School, and Skyler Seibers, a 17-year-old senior at White County High School, joined more than 100 youth from rural areas across the nation for the tour’s 24th year.

Since its inception in 1995, the FRS Youth Tour has hosted thousands of students. It is sponsored by each area’s telecommunications company, and it’s a chance for students to visit the nation’s capital and to learn about rural broadband.

For Hiett, the educational aspect of the trip made it more impactful. “I learned that small-town issues like mine are important as they vote on widespread problems,” Hiett says of lawmakers. “I also learned how technology is always changing, even behind the scenes, and how it can affect everything around me.”

It’s was also Seibers’ first time to fly, an item he now can mark off his bucket list. “I was really excited about getting to fly,” he says. “But more importantly, I learned a lot about how companies like Ben Lomand Connect have such a big impact on society. Bigger companies don’t really look at a society like the smaller companies do.”

Both Seibers and Hiett enjoyed meeting people from rural areas similar to their own. “I met people from everywhere,” Seibers says. “I never thought I would meet anyone from Alaska, but I did. That was pretty cool.”

Hiett is the daughter of Junior and Mandy Hiett of Altamont, and Seibers is the son of Gary and Bobbie Seibers of Sparta.

Ben Lomand Connect employee Jennifer Turner and her husband, Chad Turner, served as chaperones for the FRS Youth Tour. From left, Jennifer Turner, students Skyler Seibers and Leah Hiett, and Chad Turner.