WHS Seniors, Gage Trudeau and Sophia Vitela have been selected to travel to Washington, D.C. as part of Pedernales Electric Cooperative’s Youth Tour. They are two of ten students PEC selected for the all-expenses paid trip from nearly 100 applicants.
As part of the competition, students completed a short-answer response, provided a resume and an adult reference. Those with the highest scores in the application process, were invited in for interviews, where the final delegates were selected.
Vitela is captain of the debate team, member of the student council and represents Central Texas as a youth ambassador for Keep Texas Beautiful. Trudeau is president of his class and captain of the speech and debate team. He loves to read, write, and try new things.
“The students of today are the leaders of tomorrow,” said PEC Community Outreach Specialist Mikayla Herron. “If we can inspire even one of our delegates to seek out a career in government or public service, then we are honored to provide this opportunity to help build our communities’ bright young leaders.”
Former-president Lyndon B. Johnson developed the idea for Youth Tour in 1957 and was passionate about providing opportunities for young students to learn about U.S. government and public service firsthand. Johnson also played an important role in forming PEC and bringing electricity to the Texas Hill Country.
The trip takes place June 15-23.
Applications for next year’s Youth Tour will open in the fall. Those interested in learning more about the program can find information at mypec.com/ youth-tour.
