Youth and experience

High school students passed around insulated gloves and a cut cable, inspecting the components making up a power line. A few took rides in the bucket of a utility truck, feeling the sway all too familiar to lineworkers who work up high.

Wiregrass Electric Cooperative picked the 11 local students to not only visit the cooperative’s headquarters in Hartford, but also to represent the cooperative during the 2026 Montgomery Youth Tour. Each year, that event brings high school juniors from across Alabama to the state capital to hear guest speakers, tour historic sites and get a live view of their state government in action.

Also, a panel of Wiregrass Electric employees selected Lyla Smith, of Slocomb High School, and Ella Turner, of Geneva County High School in Hartford, to represent the cooperative this month during the national Youth Tour in Washington, D.C.

It’s a busy, information-filled time for all the students.

For example, during the local tour a roundtable conversation with Alabama Sen. Donnie Chesteen and state Reps. Jeff Sorrells and Paul Lee gave students a chance to ask the elected leaders questions about the job they do and how the legislative process works. They heard how legislators work within the confines of party politics — sometimes using it to their advantage to get legislation passed.

“It was cool getting to meet one-on-one with our state senator and House representatives because that’s definitely an opportunity that not many people have, especially people our age,” Smith, 16, says. “Getting to just talk with them for the hour-and-a-half we had and getting to hear their side of their story — and a lot of them said that they never imagined they would be in this position. I feel like that’s a very eye-opening experience that we can understand. While we may think we know what’s going on in our future right now, there’s always other doors that may open, and so we need to have an open mind about that.”

While Smith wants to be a nurse specializing in neonatal intensive care, Turner plans to study anesthesiology. Turner, 17, says Youth Tour is an excellent opportunity to network with peers.

“You hear all the time it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I feel like as we get older, it’s very important that we know more people,” she says. “I feel like the Montgomery trip was a great source of networking so that we can get to know more people from not just our area, but other areas. As we get older, we can say, ‘Hey, I know somebody who works here,’ and not just in our community, but other places, too.”

Visiting the cooperative, Turner says, opened her eyes and was an opportunity the delegates may never get again. That stop at the headquarters in Hartford included a visit with lineworkers, as well as a stop in the communications center where employees monitor the electrical distribution system.

“I didn’t realize how much there was behind just the electrical part and power lines and us having electricity and stuff at our houses,” Turner says.

Both Smith and Turner say they are excited about the opportunity to participate in the national Youth Tour, especially since the trip to Washington, D.C., will occur a few weeks before the country celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Smith says she enjoyed meeting other students from the Wiregrass and Alabama.
“I think that we were able to connect with people from all across our state,” Smith says. “Not only get to talk to them but also form connections with them, which I think can carry us very far in life and even later down the road. When we meet these people again, we’ll remember where we met them and how we met.”