Left to right: Ryan Szymanski, Collin Nguyen, Anna Lindstrom, Brianna Lemaster, Lucas Coats, Kynnedi Faust, Karter Caves, Preston Lewis
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BEST BRIGHTEST OEC crowns 2022 Youth Tour, Camp RYLA winners OEC awarded all-expenses-paid trips to eight extremely talented high school juniors during the 2022 Youth Tour Banquet held March 10 – the first banquet in twot years. The top four finishers — Karter Caves from Amber-Pocasset High School, and Brianna Lemaster, Collin Nguyen and RyanQuinn Szymanski from Westmoore High School — won a seven-day trip to Washington, D.C. on Oklahoma's Youth Tour. The other finalists — Anna Lindstrom and Preston Lewis from Westmoore High School, Lucas Coats, a homeschool student from Tuttle, and Kynnedi Faust from Newcastle High School — won trips to Camp RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards). Both trips will occur this summer. All applicants were asked to apply the cooperative business model to an unmet need or problem in their community and write a business proposal. Finalists created PowerPoint presentations and “pitched” their co-op business ideas in front of OEC trustees, senior staff, representatives from their schools, their families and three independent judges. “I am impressed by all the applicants and their passion for service,” said Tory Tedder-Loffland, OEC's education and outreach programs director. “What makes a co-op special is why it is in business and what it does with its revenue and these finalists understand that.” As the cornerstone of OEC's youth and leadership programs, Youth Tour has evolved over the years to encourage students to utilize technology to aid their presentations. "We believe [these aspects of the program] will benefit
these students as they enter the world of higher education and, eventually, the workforce," said Tedder-Loffland. The panel of judges included Sarah Mackey, manager of WeOkie Foundation at WeOkie Credit Union, Shavonne Evants, a realtor with Keller Williams-Mulinix of Norman, and Kory Frazier, marketing and communications specialist at Central Rural Electric Cooperative in Stillwater. As winners of the 2022 Youth Tour, Caves, Lemaster, Nguyen and Szymanski will travel to the nation's capital in June along with 70 of their peers from across the state — those 70 others will have also won their local electric coop's Youth Tour contests. They will spend the week touring Washington, D.C.'s historic monuments and museums, meeting with Oklahoma's Congressional delegation and making new, lifelong friends. While at Camp RYLA, Lindstrom, Lewis, Coats and Faust will learn improved techniques of leadership. Their enthusiasm and technique are brought back to their communities, where their positive influence impacts those around them. RYLA introduces a large number of young people and their families to the Rotary ideals of service each year. It helps bridge the communication gap between the generations and helps improve relationships among youth groups, families and the community. "I am confident OEC will be very well represented both in Washington, D.C. and at Camp RYLA," said OEC CEO Patrick Grace. "The board and I are happy to support programs that encourage our next generation of co-op members to dream big and become the community leaders we know they are capable of becoming." www.okcoop.org
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