Youth Tour 2025

Local Students Represent Wiregrass Electric at State, National Events

A trip to Montgomery was a learning experience for the group of young people representing Wiregrass Electric Cooperative during the 2025 Montgomery Youth Tour.

They visited historic sites and museums. They went on a scavenger hunt, met students from other areas of the state, and spent an evening playing games that taught them lessons about cooperatives and lessons in teamwork.

Youth Tour dates to the 1950s and was created to teach youth about America’s history, its government, and their role as citizens. They also learn about the impact electric cooperatives have in their communities.

The Alabama Rural Electric Association and local cooperatives sponsor the Montgomery Youth Tour. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, along with state and local associations, sponsors the annual National Youth Tour.

For WEC delegates, the experience didn’t end in Montgomery. The high school juniors from 8 different local schools also spent a day at the WEC headquarters in Hartford.

Students enjoyed a roundtable discussion with Alabama Rep. Jeff Sorrells and state Sen. Donnie Chesteen, giving them a chance to ask questions about the legislative process and even specific bills, like one banning cellphones and other wireless devices in Alabama’s public schools or another regulating the sale of gummies and drinks containing chemicals derived from hemp.

"I didn't know I could have such friends from different places in Alabama, and we're all joined here by this cooperative experience." — Harper Layton Rehobeth High School

From there, the students took a tour of the WEC dispatch center and received a presentation from a group of the cooperative’s lineworkers.

Students chosen for the Montgomery Youth Tour also received scholarships and were interviewed by a panel of WEC staff to determine which 2 would represent the cooperative during this year’s National Youth Tour in Washington, D.C., in June. While the choice was difficult for members of the panel, Kyleigh Saunders and Harper Layton were selected to represent WEC in Washington.

Saunders, a junior at Geneva County High School, says she learned a lot about cooperatives and the principles they follow while attending the Montgomery Youth Tour.

“It’s a great experience,” she says. “I think it’s one that many students don’t realize will have such a big impact on your life. When you start, you fill out an application, and you start digging deeper into what a cooperative is.”

Layton, a junior at Rehobeth High School, says she made a lot of new friends during the Montgomery Youth Tour from all over the state, as well as among the group of young delegates who represented WEC.

“I made so many friends,” Layton says. “I didn’t know I could have such friends from different places in Alabama, and we’re all joined here by this cooperative experience. I am just so thankful that I got to meet other like-minded individuals.”

Saunders and Layton agree that the group of local delegates bonded during the state Youth Tour and plan to stay in contact.

“This is our group,” Layton says.

2025 Montgomery Youth Tour Delegates

• Judson Bailey (Houston Academy)
• Rae-Lynn Crews (Samson High School)
• Maeleigh Gray (Geneva High School)
• Karlee Jo Groves (Geneva High School)
• Allie Hales (Geneva County High School)
• Colt Ingram (Houston County High School)
• Harper Layton (Rehobeth High School)
• Carsyn McArdle (Ashford High School)
• Grady Salter (Providence Christian School)
• Kyleigh Saunders (Geneva County High School)