Southwest Rural Electric Cooperative will provide two area high school juniors with the trip to Washington, D.C. this summer. Top prize in SWRE’s annual Youth Tour Contest for one Oklahoma student and one Texas student will be an all-expense-paid trip to the nation’s capital for a close-up look at our nation’s government in action.

Eight contest finalists will receive a cash prize of $250.

The contest is open to all 11^th grade students who attend a high school or reside in the SWRE service area. Eligibility is not limited to students whose families purchase electricity from SWRE. Any student may enter.

Oklahoma schools in the SWRE service area are Altus, Blair, Davidson, Frederick, Navajo, Snyder, and Tipton.

In Texas, SWRE area schools include Chillicothe, Crowell, Electra, Harrold, Northside, and Vernon.

To enter the contest, 11^th grade students must write a 500-750 word essay on a specified topic that relates to the importance of electricity in rural America. Essays must be received at the SWRE office in Tipton, Oklahoma, by Wednesday, February 13.

Based on the essays, eight finalists will be selected. The eight students will be invited to SWRE’s Tipton headquarters in late March to meet with contest judges and present the information from their essays. At that time winners of the Washington, D.C. trips will be named and cash prizes will be awarded to the finalists.

The winning Texas student and Oklahoma student will travel to Washington, D.C. in mid-June 2013 with state delegations of youth tour winners. In the nation’s capital they will tour the U.S. Capitol, meet with elected officials, and visit important monuments and locations, including the White House and Mount Vernon.

Complete information resource packets for entering the contest have been provided to schools throughout the SWRE service area.

The contest entry packets may also be downloaded in PDF format from the SWRE web site (www.swre.com), or obtained by calling Southwest Rural Electric at 1-800-256-7973.

“Service to the youth of our area has been a Southwest Rural Electric tradition since the cooperative was established in 1937,” said Mike Hagy, SWRE CEO. “Since 1964 our cooperative has sponsored the annual youth tour contest and sent two students each year to our nation’s capital. For many of those young people, the trip has been an incredibly positive, life-changing experience. I encourage all 11^th grade students in area schools to participate in the 2013 contest. Their reward may be great.”

In addition to the Youth Tour Contest for 11^th grade students, SWRE also sponsors an Energy Essay Contest for 8^th grade students. Information about the 8^th grade contest has been sent to schools. It is also available at the SWRE website or by calling SWRE at 1-800-256-7973.