Amicalola EMC Awards $133,000 to Area Students, Announces 2023 Washington Youth Tour winners

(Jasper, GA) Amicalola EMC is pleased to announce that 128 high school seniors from across the cooperative’s service area were each awarded a $1,000 scholarship at the annual youth awards banquet held on March 28 at Chattahoochee Technical College. Scholarships were awarded based upon grade point average, SAT/ACT scores and financial need. In addition, four students were named as 2023 delegates on the Washington Youth Tour, an all-expense-paid leadership experience sponsored by Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives, including Amicalola EMC. Olivia Claire Shull (Gilmer High), Warren Read Fernandez (Pickens High), Mac Allen Blackwell (Cherokee High) and Heather Bradford Fernandez (Pickens High) were carefully selected through an application process that included an essay, a letter of recommendation and a face to face interview with the Amicalola EMC selection committee. In addition to the trip, they will each receive a $750 scholarship.  Three runners up with each receive a $500 scholarship. Since 1965, the tour has helped promising student leaders to become exceptional young adults. According to Todd Payne, CEO, Amicalola EMC, the Youth Tour was established to inspire the next generation of leaders. This year’s tour, which takes place June 15-22, offers opportunities for students to meet policymakers, tour historic monuments and participate in leadership experiences, all while making new friends from across the state and the nation. “Preparing the next generation of leaders is crucial to ensuring our community, state and nation will be in good hands,” says Mr. Payne. “We see the tour as a way to kindle the spark of leadership in high schoolers by showing them they belong among those willing to step up in service to others.” Collin Ulm of Cherokee High was chosen by Georgia EMC as one of two statewide winners to participate in this year’s tour. He was selected through an essay contest reserved for children and grandchildren of EMC employees and directors. Delegates will join with over 100 other Georgia high school students who have been selected by their local EMCs to form the Georgia delegation. They will gather in Atlanta on June 15 to kick off the tour, spending time getting to know each other before departing for Washington D.C. When the group arrives in D.C., participants tour historic locations like Mount Vernon, explore museums and monuments and meet with their elected officials to discuss the issues that are important back home. Georgia’s tour delegates will convene with more than 1,800 youth representing electric cooperatives across the nation and exchange views concerning local and national issues. Amicalola EMC is a consumer-owned cooperative providing electricity and related services to over 54,000 members in portions of Bartow, Cherokee, Dawson, Fannin, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gordon, Lumpkin, Murray and Pickens counties. ###