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BRIGHTEST OEC crowns 2021 Youth Tour scholarship winners
OEC awarded $2,000 scholarships to four extremely talented high school juniors during the virtual 2021 Youth Tour Banquet held Feb. 22 live on OEC's YouTube channel. The top four finishers — Henry Cargill from Christian Heritage Academy, Lauren Haizlip from Southmoore High School, Brody Schuermann from Community Christian School and Kama Wyatt from Westmoore High School — won a $2,000 scholarship in lieu of the traditional Youth Tour prize: a seven-day trip to Washington, D.C. Somtoo Nkurumeh, Brooklynn Kaffenberger and Destiny Ryan from Westmoore High School won $500 scholarships as alternates. This year’s contest prompt was reflective of OEC’s mission to improve our members’ quality of life through the safe delivery of highly reliable, reasonably priced electric service, innovative energy programs and exceptional member service. OEC provides electricity to its members, but that is not what makes us a co-op. A cooperative is a self-help organization founded to satisfy the unmet needs of the members it serves. Youth Tour contest applicants were asked to apply the cooperative business model to an unmet need or problem in their community and write a business proposal. Finalists presented their co-op business
ideas via Zoom to OEC trustees, senior staff, representatives from their schools, their families, three independent judges and others watching live on YouTube. “I am impressed by all the applicants and their passion for service,” said Tory TedderLoffland, 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.” The panel of judges included Rep. Jacob Rosecrants (House District 46 from Norman), Megan Lawrence, manager of member services and marketing from Rural Electric Cooperative in Lindsay, Oklahoma, and Sara Shoenborn, director of marketing and public relations from Wisconsin Agri-Business Association in Madison, Wisconsin. All three judges joined virtually, as well. "While I'm excited to be able to host an in-person Youth Tour banquet in the future, I was very proud of the way the finalists presented their ideas virtually," 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." Congratulations to all the finalists.
LAUREN HAIZLIP SOUTHMOORE HIGH SCHOOL
KAMA WYATT
WESTMOORE HIGH SCHOOL
HENRY CARGILL
CHRISTIAN HERITAGE ACADEMY
BRODY SCHUERMANN COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL www.okcoop.org
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