Jake Huff and his family have been members of Rayle EMC for as long as Huff can remember, leading to his decision to apply for the cooperative’s Washington Youth Tour in June.
“I’ve just been seeing the people that have gone on the trip from year to year, and it piqued my interest this year,” said Huff, a Winterville native and sophomore at Oglethorpe County High School.
Of the 10 counties served by Rayle EMC, Huff will be one of three students selected to participate with the tour, an “(opportunity) for students to meet policymakers, tour historic monuments and participate in leadership experiences.”
“It’s a huge honor because there aren’t many people that (are) selected for this,” Huff said.
Callie Bridges, OCHS junior and Lexington native, will join Huff on the tour. She was encouraged to apply by a close family friend who thought she would be a “good candidate” and have a “good time.”
Kate McWhorter, a Lincolnton resident and Lincoln County High School junior, is the third student to represent Rayle EMC in Washington.
Huff, Bridges and McWhorter will join roughly 1,400 Georgia high school students selected by other local Georgia EMCs in locations ranging from Cobb County to Grady County and Bibb County.
Winners were chosen based upon a brief essay and leadership experiences within extracurricular activities.
Huff said he wrote a letter to the president, explaining how it would be a “good idea” to keep the corporations together because he hadn’t ever dealt with a “major” power company, like Georgia Power.
“We should keep the EMCs together because I’ve seen the wonderful impact that it’s had on communities and families,” he said.
Bridges said her essay was about the difference between an electrical cooperative and other electrical utilities and the “advantages of having a membership with an electrical cooperative” because of the “higher quality of service that (people) get.”
Huff plays football and golf for OCHS, and is an active member in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter and OCHS chapters of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), the National Beta Club and the National Honor Society.
He said he has shown leadership qualities in the “way that (he carries himself) on the football team and on the golf course.”
Bridges is a member of FFA and OCHS student council and serves as the National Beta Club president and a FCA officer.
“I think those (involvements) kind of (speak) to my character,” she said. “That I work hard and value those things.”
Huff, who said he’s visited Washington before, added he hopes to make lifelong friends and “(get) to know sources that go to different universities.”
“I really am just thankful for this opportunity to represent our EMC in our county by going to D.C. this summer,” Huff said.
Bridges, who will be making her first trip to the nation’s capital, said she is excited to see the White House and build relationships with people from different areas of Georgia.
“It’s a big honor,” Bridges said. “There’s people that did apply that didn’t get chosen. So I definitely am appreciative of the opportunity.”