Apply for 2026 Youth Tour and Scholarships
Youth Tour
If you are a junior in high school with a parent or guardian who is a member of REC, you have a chance to do something amazing. The 2026 Youth Tour, taking place June 15-19, is a once-in-alifetime experience for high school juniors. It can change the way you see your future.
You will stand where the nation’s great leaders have stood and walk in the halls where they make the biggest decisions. You will see history up close. You will also form lifelong connections and friendships.
The REC application period for the 2026 Youth Tour in Washington, D.C., is open and closes on Jan. 31, 2026. Each year, REC selects students from its service territory to join the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives for the tour. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association sponsors the Youth Tour, which is in its 49th year.
Youth Tour Questions?
email: community@myrec.coop
Scholarships
REC is offering $20,000 in scholarships to 17 students who want to advance their career goals by attending a college or a career and technical school.
REC awards two scholarships for $2,500 and 15 for $1,000. To apply, the applicant’s parent or guardian must be a member of REC. The applicant must also plan to enroll, or be enrolled, in an accredited educational or training institution.
Those eligible to apply include:
- High school seniors who plan to attend a college or university.
- High school seniors who plan to attend a career or technical school.
- Students enrolled in a college or university, or a career or technical school.
Scholarships Questions?
email: community@myrec.coop or call: 540-891-5912
2024 Alum’s Youth Tour is Still Going Strong
In a way, Jackson Hunley’s youth tour experience has kept on going, all the way to the Ivy League. Hunley represented REC at the National Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in 2024 as a high school junior. The youth tour took Hunley from his rural home in Spotsylvania to the U.S. Capitol.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association organizes youth tour. It brings together more than 2,000 students from around the U.S. to learn about the power of electric cooperatives and their government.
At the youth tour, Jackson was elected to a seat on the national Youth Leadership Council as the Virginia representative. He flew to Atlanta, Ga., in March 2025 to take part in NRECA’s Annual Meeting, PowerXchange.
The Next Chapter
His duties representing REC may be over. But Hunley has added another chapter — and trip — to his tour. In August, Hunley landed in the Finger Lakes region of New York to start classes at Cornell University in Ithaca.
Massaponax High School has about 1,700 students. Just months after graduating, Hunley walks the Cornell campus with more than 27,000 other students. Hunley said he’s embracing every challenge and opportunity.
“I’ll admit that Cornell’s size has been overwhelming — but in the best sense of the word,” Hunley said. “With the biggest campus and student body of any Ivy League university, it can be difficult to navigate.”
An ‘Astonishing’ Experience
Hunley enjoys meeting classmates from around the country and world.
“In my few weeks here, I’ve met dozens of people from around the world — from Ukrainian refugees to students from rural America, like me,” he said. “The diversity of backgrounds and perspectives here is astonishing.”
Hunley is majoring in public policy. He enjoys the coursework and the learning. But researching and writing at a college level is a challenge, he says.
Bees and Band
Hunley has joined the Bee Club — as in actual bees, not the spelling kind. The club educates students and the community about bees and beekeeping.
“Before, beekeeping was something I enjoyed in solitude,” said Hunley, who’s been a hobby beekeeper for three years. “But it’s refreshing to be part of a community as passionate about honeybee conservation as I am.”
He also plays the tuba in the Cornell Big Red Marching Band. The band, in all humility, touts itself as the “only real marching band in the Ivy League.”
Hunley has played the tuba for seven years and marched in his high school’s marching band. He said he’s lucky to be part of the Cornell Big Red Marching Band.
“At over 200 members, the band is much bigger than my high school’s, so it’s been an adjustment learning to play in such a large ensemble,” he said. “But the other members immediately treated me like part of the family, and band has been a great outlet to meet all sorts of people.”
All the best to Hunley, as his tour continues.