Cuivre River Electric Cooperative is proud to announce its 12 finalists for the 2022 Youth Tour essay contest.

The top 12 scoring essays were selected by a panel of judges out of nearly 80 based on their cooperative knowledge, composition, originality, grammar and neatness.

The 12 finalists are:

Clopton High School

Madelyn Brune

Fort Zumwalt North High School

Katelyn Sieh

Liberty High School 

Kaitlyn Benesek

Arthi Kondapaneni

Ella Murphy

Reese Ramier

Samantha Flynn

Alexa Graham

Warrenton High School

Julia Starks

Madisen Nash

Troy Buchanan High School

Josie Hoskins

Home School

Jamie Jarvis

The CREC Youth Tour Final Competition and Awards Banquet will be held on April 6 at the CREC branch office in Lake Saint Louis. The 12 finalists will take a cooperative knowledge-based quiz, and then present their winning essays to a board of distinguished judges and special guests. Their presentations will be judged on the student’s speaking ability, poise and personality, appearance and length of presentation.

The six students with the highest combined competition scores will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D. C., June 13-19, 2022, to attend the National Youth Tour Conference.

The other six finalists will each receive a $500 scholarship.

The annual Youth Tour contest is open to students who live and attend school in Cuivre River Electric’s general service area, or who have CREC service in their homes. For more information about the Youth Tour program, contact Tim Schmidt at 800-392-3709, ext. 4837 or by email at tschmidt@cuivre.com.