ALEX, OKLAHOMA – Alex Public School students Abby and Kara Pettijohn were
honored at the Rural Electric Cooperative’s recent award banquet for their essays
written over the cooperative.
Kara Pettijohn was awarded the opportunity to participate in Energy Camp this summer.
The opportunity helps develop leadership skills and promotes teamwork while teaching
about cooperative enterprises, the rural electrification program and electrical safety.
Each year, REC sponsors eight students to go to camp, which will be held at the end of
May at Canyon Camp, near Hinton, Okla. While Energy Camp offers many traditional
summer camp activities like swimming, hiking and basketball, students also have the
unique opportunity to climb a utility pole, ride in a bucket truck and learn about electric
cooperatives.
Abby Pettijohn presented her essay as a speech at the awards banquet and was
awarded an all expense paid trip to Washington DC. The Washington Youth Tour is
sponsored by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), the
Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives (OAEC), and 25 of Oklahoma’s 27
electric distribution cooperatives. Students travel with the Oklahoma delegation (70 +
students) to our nation’s capital where they tour historic sites and national landmarks,
meet Oklahoma’s congressional delegation and much more. Youth Tour has earned a
reputation as “a trip of a lifetime” by former participants.