GRANTS, N.M. – Continental Divide is now accepting applications for its annual Government-in-Action Youth Tour essay contest for two high school juniors to win an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C . June 16-21, 2025.June 16-21, 2025 Some 40 Youth Tour delegates representing electric co-ops across the state tour our nation’s capital every summer. They visit national monuments and museums and learn the importance and uniqueness of our country’s electric co-ops. Students also meet New Mexico’s congressional representatives and discuss federal policy, including our nation’s energy needs.
This year, applicants can either submit an essay between 500 and 750 words or a video submission of five to seven minutes. Essays and videos must address the following question: If you were president, what energy and telecommunications policies would you support to improve America’s struggling economy?
The electrification of transportation, expanding domestic manufacturing and growth of data centers (particularly for artificial intelligence) are expected to strain our energy infrastructure in coming years. Large data centers, for example, now require the same amount of electricity to power 750,000 homes. The massive amounts of power are needed for high-intensity computing and cooling systems. Meanwhile, more than 20 percent of rural Americans still lack reliable and affordable broadband internet, vital for economic development, education and health care. New energy and e-connectivity infrastructure has not kept pace with the unprecedented technological advancements impacting society. The president can directly affect the future of energy and telecommunications through executive action, agency policies, and who they choose to be in their cabinet. “As future leaders, our youth must understand the methods they can employ to impact their communities, careers, and futures. Putting themselves in the shoes of the president can help build that connection,” said William Yarborough, Continental Divide’s member services representative.
The Youth Tour essay competition is open to all high school juniors whose parents or legal guardians are active Continental Divide members (account holders) in good standing. The co-op will select two delegates and an alternate if one of the top choices cannot attend. A panel of co-op employees judges the essays and scores them based on content, grammar and overall presentation. Names, addresses, the schools they attend, and other identifiers of the applicants are removed from the judges’ copies of the essays. All entries must be delivered to the Grants or Gallup office before 5 p.m. Fri., Nov. 1, 2024.
This past June, Noah Lundstrom and Lorenso Saavedra of Grants High School were selected to attend Youth Tour. The New Mexico students flew together to Washington, D.C. Once there, they joined about 1,500 other Youth Tour participants from electric co-ops across the country, embarking on the learning experience of a lifetime.
Youth Tour entry forms and rules can be found online at www.cdec.coop/youthtour, at any co-op servicearea schools and at Continental Divide’s Grants and Gallup offices. Those interested also can call the co-op’s Yarborough at (505) 285-6656 for more details.
The annual Government- in-Action Youth Tour is a collaborative effort between electric cooperatives across the country, the New Mexico Rural Electric Cooperatives and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.