DEMCO Essay Winners Headed to DC

Four Baton Rouge area high school students have won an all-expense paid trip to Washington. Jessica Litloff of Holden High, Sawyer Welborn of Central High, John Wiese of Runnels Academy, and Kennedy Wilcher of Zachary High were the winners in the 2016 DEMCO Rural Electric Youth Tour Essay Contest.

The essay contest gives students throughout DEMCO’s seven-parish service area the chance to write an original essay as a letter to an elected official of their choosing.

The four winners were announced March 1 during a banquet at John Folse’s White Oak Plantation honoring the 12 finalists, their families, teachers, and school principals.

The other eight finalists included the following area students:  Grace Bordelon and Sarah Johnson of St. Joseph’s Academy; Hannah Cowart, Ashley Gouedy and Abigail Wootan of Central High; William Hartmann of St. Michael High; Adam Howe of Runnels Academy, and Jamie Martin of West Feliciana High.

The featured speaker, local meteorologist Jeff Morrow, recounted his experience as a finalist and winner of DEMCO’s essay contest in 2002.

“Stay close to those who are close to you,” Morrow urged the students, “and never lose faith along your path of life.”

Each finalist was judged on the oral presentation of his essay.  Finalists also completed a short test on their knowledge of DEMCO and rural electrification.

DEMCO’s four Youth Tour winners will join 25 other Louisiana students for a week-long trip to Washington in mid-June.  While there, the group will visit the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Supreme Court, National Archives, Arlington Cemetery, and many other historic buildings and landmarks.  They will also join about 1,300 other Youth Tour participants from around the nation.

This year marks the 39th anniversary of DEMCO’s Youth Tour program, which provides outstanding youth with insight into how their national government operates. More than 280 entries were submitted this year.

Sawyer Welborn’s winning letter, written to the superintendent of the Central Community School System, advocated for the development of an “adult responsibilities” course to teach students about life in the real world.

Sawyer, son of Ronnie and Teena Welborn, is an honor student with a 4.1 GPA. Sawyer is described as “an old soul” by his teachers He enjoys reading, writing, and music. He plans to attend LSU in the future.