Laura Reed and Jordan Wilkins of DeKalb County High School were sponsored by Caney Fork Electric Cooperative to attend the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association’s 2013 Youth Leadership Summit March 25-27 in downtown Nashville.
Reed, daughter of Thomas and Denise Reed, and Wilkins, son of Allen and Jan Wilkins, all of Smithville, were among 46 high school juniors representing the state’s 23 electric cooperatives who attended the annual event.
“The Youth Leadership Summit teaches these exceptional students how important electric cooperatives are to Tennessee’s communities and provides them an opportunity to see the legislative process in the Capitol,” said Todd Blocker, TECA director of member relations.
“Local electric co-ops, school officials and guidance counselors chose these deserving students to attend the summit based on their interests in government and strong leadership abilities,” Blocker said.
“As a cooperative we are constantly looking toward the future and forming a strong plan to guide us,” said John Chisam, CFEC director of member services.
 “We see the same in the young individuals who participated in the Youth Leadership Summit. They are growing toward the future and refining their skills to guide them into the bright future that lies in front of them,” Chisum noted.
“Reed and Wilkins are fine examples of the future leaders we’re raising in our local communities,” said Vicki King, communications coordinator at Caney Fork. “Caney Fork Electric Cooperative is pleased to provide motivated students with this opportunity to join their peers from across Tennessee to learn about state government and rural electric co-ops.”
The summit began Monday evening, March 25, with dinner at the group’s hotel, the Millennium Maxwell House.
Get-acquainted and leadership-development activities followed, led by Amy Gallimore of TRI Leadership Resources LLC. The night ended with informational presentations on the legislative process — on the federal and state levels — by Steve Uram with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Tennessee electric co-op employees.
Students rose early on March 26 for breakfast and preparations for a visit to Legislative Plaza.
TECA Director of Government Affairs Mike Knotts introduced Rep. Andy Holt of Dresden, who welcomed the students to Nashville and answered their questions about legislative issues.
The 11th-graders then toured the Capitol and saw state government in action at Senate and House committee meetings before posing for photos in front of the historic building.
Reed and Wilkins also met with Rep. Terry Lynn Weaver in her office.
Following the visit to Capitol Hill, the group enjoyed lunch and leadership activities at a Nashville-area YMCA camp, where the students were also treated to a hot-line trailer demonstration by Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation and Sunbelt Retails.
Tri-County EMC employees showed that electric power does a tremendous amount of work for us, but because it is such a powerful force, we must be careful around it and always exercise safety around power lines.
The fun continued with dinner and games at Dave & Buster’s, and the busy day was capped off by special guest speakers, 2012 Miss Tennessee Chandler Lawson and Stephanie Armstrong, team captain of the Tennessee Titans cheerleaders.
Wednesday morning, the students were divided into teams and formed their own co-ops and worked together to “buy” and “sell” power distribution supplies and resolve day-to-day issues local electric co-ops face like power outages and rights-of-way conflicts.
Then they got an overview of the history of electric cooperatives and answered trivia questions about electric co-ops and the state in the “Energy Battle” competition.
“These students will soon be our community leaders — and electric cooperative member-owners,” said Bill Rogers, general manager of Caney Fork Electric Cooperative. “We want them to see what makes their electric cooperative special, appreciate all their co-op provides for their communities and understand why it was so important to form electric co-ops in the first place.”