Appreciation

APPRECIATION

2019 participants learn about cooperatives at Montgomery Youth Tour

Wiregrass Electric Cooperative recently sponsored 10 high school juniors for an all-expenses-paid trip to the state capital for the Montgomery Youth Tour. During the trip, the students visited historic sites like the Alabama State House, Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, the state archives and more.

The goal of the Youth Tour is to educate the students on Alabama’s history and the role electric cooperatives have played in that story. Students also receive a $500 scholarship from WEC, which not all cooperatives provide. WEC honored all 10 participants at a banquet on March 20 at its main office in Hartford.

“This program is such a great experience for these students,” says WEC Chief Operating Officer Brad Kimbro. “It not only teaches them about the importance of electric cooperatives, but it also helps shape them into our future leaders. We look forward to sponsoring students each year.”

At the banquet, judges selected two students through an interview process to represent WEC on the Washington, D.C., Youth Tour this summer.

This year’s winners are Claire Aplin, who attends Ashford High School, and Victoria Zinn of Samson High School.

Gavin Gomez of Wicksburg High School was the first alternate. “I almost cried,” Zinn says on hearing she had won. “I have never been to Washington before, and I don’t think I would have ever had a chance to go had it not been for this trip and Wiregrass Electric. I am so excited and grateful that they chose me.”

WEC board president Donna Parrish has served on the board for 10 years and said the Youth Tour is one of the best programs the cooperative sponsors. “It has been amazing to me to see the maturity that these kids have shown over the years,” Parrish says. “These students are the cream of the crop, and it’s amazing how much this program helps them.”

Students gain a better understanding of cooperatives through the program, and they also learn leadership skills and how to branch out and meet new people. “I don’t regret going on this trip one bit,” Gomez says. “I got to meet people like me, people who aren’t like me, and it was a great experience. There was nothing about this trip that I didn’t like.”

One of the biggest lessons is how important the cooperative is to the community. “One of my biggest takeaways was that the people who work at the cooperative are here for you,” Gomez says. “It’s not like a normal business that is trying to make money. They just want to help people, and I really like that about cooperatives.”

The 2019 Montgomery Youth Tour delegates pictured with WEC board president Donna Parrish, board members Danny McNeil and David Winstead and WEC Chief Operating Officer Brad Kimbro at the Youth Tour Banquet.

2019 Youth Tour Participants

Claire Aplin — Ashford High School Addison Reynolds — Houston Academy Ashlyn Simpson — Northside Methodist Academy Braydon Whitaker — Slocomb High School Cole Saunders — Geneva County High School Emma Houston — Providence Christian School Gavin Gomez — Wicksburg High School Keely McGriff — Northview High School Madison Clay — Houston County High School Victoria Zinn — Samson High School

Claire Aplin, Emma Houston, Gavin Gomez and the other delegates visited the Alabama State House to learn more about state government and have a chance to meet their local politicians.

Pictured front row, from left are Emma Houston, Claire Aplin, Addison Reynolds and Victoria Zinn. Pictured on the back row, from left are Madison Clay, Ashlyn Simpson, Keely McGriff, Braydon Whitaker, Cole Saunders and Gavin Gomez.

Youth Tour students know the importance of Wiregrass Electric

Students from around the Wiregrass apply each year to attend the Montgomery Youth Tour for a chance to learn more about state government and the importance of cooperative utilities as well as to visit historic monuments and meet other students from across the state.

Wiregrass Electric selects 10 students from the area. This year, two of the participants, Claire Aplin and Keely McGriff, already have an understanding of how important WEC is to the region.

When Hurricane Michael struck the Wiregrass in October 2018, it left 18,000 WEC members without power — some for nearly 10 days. Linemen from cooperatives across the state traveled to the Wiregrass to help restore power.

Aplin, who attends Watermark Church, stepped up with other members of the church to try to make the linemen’s jobs easier. She and her family took loads of linemen’s clothes home to wash. When they returned the clothes, they placed handwritten notes inside the bags to let the linemen know they appreciated all they were doing to restore power.

“They were taking time out of their days and their lives to get the power back on, and it was the least we could do,” she says.

McGriff had a similar experience. A day after the storm made landfall, McGriff and her family had not been able to reach her grandmother, who was located in an area with heavy damage. Unsure what to do, they reached out to WEC for information.

Not only did they get information that she was OK, but WEC also sent a truck to her house to check on her. The gesture provided much-needed relief to McGriff ’s family. McGriff and Aplin shared those stories during the interviews to select the Washington, D.C., Youth Tour participants.

Wanda Woods, support services coordinator at PowerSouth, has been the Youth Tour director there for more than 20 years. She is also a judge to select the Washington Youth Tour participants for WEC. She loves hearing those types of stories from Youth Tour delegates.

“We look at the younger generation, and we think they don’t care,” Woods says. “To hear a young girl took time to volunteer and wash clothes for linemen is amazing to hear. It was special to hear a girl say her family was worried about her grandmother, and Wiregrass stepped up and went and checked on her. That’s going above and beyond. I thought that said a lot about Wiregrass Electric and those students. That shows Wiregrass Electric is doing something right.”