Youth Tour is a once-in-a-lifetime, all-expenses-paid leadership travel opportunity for a high school junior in Red Lake Electric Cooperative’s service area. One student, whose parent or guardian is a RLEC member, will be selected to represent our cooperative in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, held each year in June. The next tour will be held June 14-20, 2026.
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More than 1,800 students from all across America take part in the Youth Tour experience each year. This unique trip gives young people the opportunity to watch history come alive, explore museums, memorials, and monuments, make friendships that will last a lifetime and be part of a group that has more than 50,000 alumni from every walk of life, including U.S. Senators and CEOs.
The Youth Tour program continues to foster the grassroots spirit of the rural electric cooperatives by demonstrating to high school juniors how our government works and what the electric cooperative business model is all about. In a time when energy is at the forefront of our nation’s issues, this is a great opportunity to have a hand in the creation of electric cooperative advocates!
RLEC’s winner will travel with approximately 40 Minnesota teens sponsored by other rural electric co-ops and join 1,800 national delegates in D.C.
Please note: This tour is available only for students whose parents or legal guardians receive electricity from Red Lake Electric Cooperative – a benefit of co-op membership.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is based in Arlington, Virginia, and is the service organization that Red Lake is affiliated with. They are dedicated to representing the national interests of cooperative electric utilities and the consumers they serve.
Nearly 1,800 students from 44 states participate in the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour program. For more than 50 years, the Youth Tour has brought high school students to Washington, D.C., to learn how their government works and the importance of civic engagement.
Youth Tour participants are sponsored by their local electric cooperative. Yes, the trip is free for the students! However, they may want to bring some spending money for souvenirs.
The safety and well-being of the students who take part in Youth Tour is our number one priority. Your son or daughter will be accounted for at all times and will be supervised by several adult chaperones in his/her group. In addition to the chaperones traveling with each state group, NRECA staff is on-site, at the hotel, for the entire week of Youth Tour. Curfew is 11 p.m. each evening and is strictly enforced. Chaperones traveling with your son/daughter’s state will ensure that all students are in their assigned rooms. Further, professional security guards are on duty, on every hotel floor from 10:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. to ensure maximum safety. For more information, see Rules and Guidelines.
Yes. NRECA contracts with two full-time nurses who have more than 60 years of emergency room and trauma experience. The nurses are on-site and are available 24 hours a day throughout the week.
Minnesota Rural Electric Association coordinates this event annually. Visit their website to learn more.
