The Youth Tour Program was inspired by Senator Lyndon B. Johnson as he addressed the 1957 annual meeting of all electric cooperatives. His hopes were that electric cooperatives would send young people to our nation's capital where they could actually see what our nation's flag represents. That same year, Texas cooperatives joined together and sent a group of young people to Washington, DC where they toured the Capital and met with the President and their Congressmen. The next year, Iowa joined the efforts of Texas and the Rural Electric Youth Tour Program began. By 1964, the national office of rural electric cooperatives began coordinating the trip and declared the second week in June as National Rural Electric Youth Tour Week.

Twenty-nine years ago, DEMCO began the Louisiana Youth Tour. In 1978, DEMCO sent four high school students with two chaperones to Washington, DC. In Washington, they joined with the Texas delegation. The next year, DEMCO encouraged other Louisiana electric cooperatives to join in this educational project.

In 1979, The Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives took interest in the program and now coordinates the annual Youth Tour Program. This year, about 25 high school students from Louisiana will journey to our nation's capital.

In 2007, high school juniors from schools throughout DEMCO's seven-parish territory were asked to submit an essay on one of three topics:

• What is good in my community?
• Electricity and you
• How can I make my community a better place to live?

DEMCO received over 300 essays from 7 high schools. Three judges read the essays and selected 12 finalists. The finalists attended the 2007 Youth Tour Banquet held at White Oak Plantation on March 6, 2007. At the banquet, each student presented his or her essay and competed to win one of four slots for an all expenses paid trip to Washington, DC for the 2007 Rural Electric Youth Tour Trip.