DOBSON — Three Surry County rising seniors will be representing Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation as delegates in two youth programs this summer.
Sarah Stephens of Pilot Mountain and Willow Lawson of Mount Airy, juniors at Surry Early College High School, have been chosen as Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation delegates for the N.C. Youth Tour trip to Washington, D.C. In addition to this trip, they also will be eligible for a $500 college scholarship.
Applicants had to complete an application which consisted of character questions, an essay question about the cooperative business model and an oral presentation of the essay. Applications were reviewed and blind-judged by employees to narrow the field to the top five finalists.
Those finalists gave the oral presentations on their essay topic, “What impresses you most about the cooperative business model,” to a panel of three judges — Paul Mott, government affairs specialist for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives; Autumn Solomon, programs committee member with the Cooperative Council of North Carolina; and Travis Frye, tourism coordinator for Surry County and Dobson Tourism Development Authorities. The presentations and final judging took place at the Surry-Yadkin headquarters in Dobson in mid-January, with employees, parents and school officials in attendance.
The judges commented on how strong all the finalists were, with Stephens and Lawson being selected as delegates for this year’s Youth Tour. “We are honored Sarah and Willow will be representing Surry-Yadkin Electric on this trip of a lifetime,” said Wendy Wood, manager of communications and community relations for SYEMC.
During their trip, the girls will attend a leadership conference, tour national museums and sites, meet their elected officials at the U.S. Capitol and make new friends from across the country.
They also will be eligible to apply for two scholarships — $2,500 and $2,000 — awarded by North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives.
Lanie Fitzgerald of Dobson, a student at Surry Central High School, will be attending the Cooperative Council of NC’s Cooperative Leadership Camp this summer at Camp Monroe in Laurel Hill.
The camp features interactive workshops and presentations, outdoor recreation, leadership development, team building activities and small group sessions with an emphasis on what cooperatives are all about and how they operate. They also will have a chance to form their own T-shirt cooperative, including an election of a board of directors and manager. By attending this camp, they are eligible to apply for the Jim Graham $1,000 college scholarship.
“These two trips are both great opportunities for these students and we hope they will use the knowledge they gain to guide them into their college and career path. We appreciate all the students who took the time to apply and encourage others to apply for these opportunities,” Wood said.
Anyone who knows students who would be interested in participating in one of these trips, eligible to students their junior year of high school, visit syemc.com. The application period opens each fall.
Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation, a member-owned Touchstone Energy Cooperative, was founded in 1940 by a group of local farmers with a vision to provide electricity to rural farmers and families. More than 82 years later, SYEMC powers more than 28,000 meters in five counties, including Surry, Yadkin, Stokes, Wilkes and Forsyth.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com