WASHINGTON — It’s the time of year where students and tourists travel to Washington D.C. to learn more about our nation’s capital.
What You Need To Know
- Washington Youth Tour participants are between their junior and senior years in high school and no older than 18.
- It’s a nonpartisan experience with the goal of helping the students gain an understanding of American history and how the decisions elected officials make affect their states and their lives.
- This year, 60 students from across the state were selected to attend the Washington Youth Tour.
The Washington Youth Tour is an annual, weeklong, all-expenses-paid trip for rising high school seniors in Kentucky. Sophia Stover, a student at Central Hardin High School in Elizabethtown, attended this year’s trip. It was her first time in Washington, D.C.
“The trip has been wonderful,” Stover said. “I saw the Capitol building, and literally, I cried — and during lunch, I quit my lunch early and I walked over to the Library of Congress and I cried again. It was so beautiful.”
Stover said the tour was full of memories she will make sure she doesn’t forget.
“My phone storage is full of photos,” Stover said.
Thanks to this trip, her phone storage is now full of pictures of the White House, the Capitol building, monuments on the National Mall and other historic sites.
The Washington Youth Tour is sponsored by local Kentucky electric cooperatives. It’s a nonpartisan experience with the goal of helping the students gain an understanding of American history and how the decisions elected officials make affect their state and their lives.
“We were in the theater of the exhibition hall of the Capitol earlier and there was a livestream of what’s happening in the Senate committee meetings,” Stover explained. “I was just blown away. They are right down the hall from us and they’re just talking about things that are shaping Kentucky and America.”
Besides the Washington Youth Tour, there’s also a version of this program at the state level. This year’s Frankfort Youth Tour took place in March, and Stover attended that as well.
The event at the Kentucky State Capitol inspired her to take action. Stover helped launch the first county level “Co-ops Vote” project to encourage civic engagement and voter turnout. Stover plans to organize a voter registration drive and other engagement activities ahead of the November general election.
“I’m inspired by young people like Sophia who are eager to engage in our election procedures,” said Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith. “By encouraging Hardin County’s next generation to register to vote and cast their ballots, we are making our government better able to serve all Kentuckians.”
Stover is just 17 years old right now, but said she plans to register to vote on her 18th birthday.
“I believe it’s so important because the decisions we make in the next 5 months will affect the next 5 years and beyond,” Stover said. “Just being able to shape the way we see Kentucky and our nation really is a beautiful thing.”
Students who would like to attend either the Frankfort Youth Tour or the Washington Youth Tour can reach out to their local electric cooperative for more information. Some cooperatives hold essay contests, some rely on personal interviews, and others administer qualifying exams to decide who gets to attend the programs.
This year, 60 students from across the state were selected to attend the Washington Youth Tour.