Each June, students are immersed in a one-of-a-kind experience in Washington, D.C., through the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. Mor-Gran-Sou Electric chose one local applicant to represent the cooperative on the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. Applicants are asked to answer the essay question, “As member owned organizations, electric cooperatives are al ways seeking new ways to engage their members. What are some ways electric cooperatives can better communicate and connect, especially with students and young adults?”
Mor-Gran-Sou Electric is proud to announce Alexis Schmidt, daughter of Kip and Lynn Schmidt, will be representing Mor-Gran-Sou Electric on the exciting week-long trip. Alexis is a junior at Mandan High School and is active in Spanish Club, National Honor Society, Art Club, helps with theater technology, is a track athlete, plays in concert band and other activities that keep her busy.
"My English teacher saw it,” Alexis says. Alexis’s mom and English teacher urged her to write the essay and submit it for a chance to win the all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C.
"My brother just got back from D.C.,” Alexis says. “He talked about all the Smithsonian buildings.”
She says she thinks she will like exploring those as well since she enjoys history and largescale crafts.
Alexis and other North Dakota electric cooperative representatives will take off in June. You can follow Alexis’s journey on Mor-Gran-Sou Electric's Facebook and Instagram pages.
Alexis’s winning essay
Opening the doors of electric cooperatives provides students and young adults with unique personal experiences that bring the concepts of community involvement from the pages of a textbook to the heart of a neighborhood. Through various acts, electric cooperatives can move beyond being simple service providers. Adding local perspectives into operations allows cooperatives to become trusted members of society. This enables the cooperatives to be responsive to their community and develop cherished members from within. Electric cooperatives can better communicate and connect with students and young adults through various community acts, such as tours, social media and publicizing their support for charities or nonprofits. These acts offer not just a light into homes, but also a place within a community.
In modern society, social connection and real world experience are of utmost importance to the young adult and student demographics. Tours give each student and young adult a firsthand look at facility operations, while offering insight into what community involvement might look like. Electric cooperatives can offer these tours, providing immersive, hands-on learning that can shift world views, further fostering better morals in the community. These tours would show onlookers how electricity is generated, transmitted and distributed, while also learning the roles of the organization. The tour can also help students meet staff members in person, which, through meaningful conversation, can humanize cooperation. Overall, tours could spark interaction and interest in electric cooperatives, further providing better communication and connection with students and young adults.
In today's culture, social media is at the heart. From young students to grown adults, each generation is creating virtual communities that reflect their interests and beliefs. Through social media platforms, cooperatives can share news and updates on upcoming events, providing an insight on activities to get the community involved. This allows for a direct line of communication between the community and the cooperative, allowing students to provide questions and to be responded to with policies or initiatives. This back-and-forth provides cooperatives with a better understanding of young people, in turn tailoring their outreach to the community.
Furthermore, creating a social media presence can create a more humanized look for the community. An online personality can make the cooperative feel more in touch, allowing it to be more approachable. This can be accomplished by sharing the staff members’ stories or allowing them to have a more personal approach to communicating with their followers. A social media presence is vital in terms of creating a bond with today's young adults and students. Supporting charities that align with cooperative social values allows the organization to build trust and foster relationships that resonate with young adults and students. This funding can further promote moral values amongst the younger generations and, in turn, create a connection. Not only can the cooperative send donations, but it can also offer grants or sponsorships to those within the organization, enabling them to carry out an impactful project. The support these nonprofits receive can demonstrate an alignment with the social values that are important to young people. This alignment can establish the organization as not only a service provider but also as a responsible and caring member of society.
In conclusion, electric cooperatives have an opportunity to connect with students and young adults through genuine outreach, whether it is through putting real support behind a charity or showcasing their work online. Each effort adds up, allowing them to connect and grow with their community. When cooperatives become vulnerable and cultivate bonds with their community, they not only power homes, they power relationships, and in today's world, that type of custom is hard to beat