Missouri Youth Tour has inspired future leaders for six decades
by Paul Newton | pnewton@ruralmissouri.coop
Missouri’s electric cooperatives have a long history of promoting the state’s youth. The most prominent program is the Missouri Youth Tour, which sends soon-to-be high school seniors to Washington, D.C., for a week of meetings, monuments, memorials and memories. Missouri has sent 4,521 students since 1964. This month, 108 Missouri delegates will arrive in Columbia as strangers and become fast friends on the trip of a lifetime. Youth Tour is a life-changing event for many. This month we caught up with a pair of Youth Tour alums to see how the trip brought them back to Washington, D.C.
Athena Hood of Licking (above) attended Youth Tour in 2018 and was sponsored by Intercounty Electric Cooperative. She was selected as Missouri’s representative on the Youth Leadership Council, which allowed her to continue leadership training following the trip and attend the NRECA Annual Meeting the following year. Athena is currently the deputy press secretary for the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. She previously worked for U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley.
Ella Bruno of Macon (above) attended Youth Tour in 2022 and was sponsored by Macon Electric Cooperative. She’s a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) majoring in political science and religious studies. She’s president of WashU’s College Republicans and Turning Point USA chapters and cohost of the Beyond the Ballot podcast. Ella spent last summer in D.C. interning for Sen. Hawley, specializing in domestic policy and communications.
Q: Why did you apply for Youth Tour?
Athena: I knew that every year someone from my high school would write a paper and do an interview and go to Washington, D.C. I didn’t understand the whole process at first, but I knew I wanted to go on this trip. The paper I wrote was on how the co-ops can affect your life in more ways than just electricity. I wrote the paper and got the interview. I was fairly decent at talking, but I was scared for the interview because of how much I wanted to go to D.C.
Ella: When I was deciding whether or not to apply for Youth Tour, I thought the trip seemed too good to be true. I applied for Youth Tour because it gave me the chance to represent my local cooperative on a statewide and national level. I had always dreamed about going to Washington, D.C., but this trip allowed me to fuel my vision of eventually working in D.C.
Q: Were you nervous before the trip?
Athena: I was a little nervous. I remember it dawning on me a few days before the trip I was going to a new city with a bunch people I didn’t know. It was scary. But when I got to orientation the first night, I talked with the other delegates at my table and we got along. Then we sat next to each other on the bus to the airport the next day. Then we hung out while touring the monuments and museums around Washington, D.C. Some of them are lifelong friends now.
Ella: I was indeed nervous before the trip for a variety of reasons. But, as soon as I stepped foot into the hotel in Columbia for the first night of Youth Tour, I was immediately welcomed by the amazing staff and chaperones that organize the Missouri Youth Tour. Then meeting the other delegates — who are genuinely good people — helped kick off what would be a week I will never forget.
Q: What was your favorite part(s) of your week in D.C.?
Athena: What I remember the most was the day we spent on Capitol Hill. My representative in Congress was Jason Smith, and we got to meet with him on the Capitol steps. I asked him some tough questions that a 17-year-old girl wanted to know that are kind of ridiculous now, in retrospect. But he answered them. He told us this is such a sacred place and how lucky we were to have this opportunity. That really stuck with me and kind of foreshadowed what I wanted to do with the rest of my life or at least this phase of my life.
Ella: My most favorite part of the week was seeing the monuments at night. The day we flew from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., it was already dark by the time we started touring. Our first stops were the MLK and FDR memorials, which were unforgettable in the evening.
Youth Tour had such a busy, yet fulfilling, schedule and the concept of time became a blur as I connected with so many new faces.
Q: How was the Youth Tour different than what you expected?
Athena: I expected the week to be nerve-wracking. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life and assumed everyone else would have everything put together, know where they’re going to college and what they’re going to do with their lives. I realized we were just a bunch of 17- and 18-year-old kids who, genuinely, didn’t know what the future would hold. We were going to enjoy this week; the real world was coming and those decisions could wait.
Ella: This might sound cliche, but I never expected Youth Tour to be as fulfilling as it was. The other delegates I met on the weeklong trip quickly became great lifelong friends. The mentors I met from the trip still check on me and help me the best they can to this day whether I’m in Washington, D.C., or at college in St. Louis.
Q: How did Youth Tour change you and your path when you returned to Missouri?
Athena: It gave me perspective. I come from a small town. Both my parents at one point lived in a city on the West Coast, so I wasn’t a stranger to big cities. But, seeing how average people live in a big city like Washington and ride bikes or take the Metro to work seemed cool. It was a formative point in my life where I realized I could be part of something that’s bigger than me. Youth Tour allowed me to venture out of my comfort zone and make new friends while doing it, which was really nice. It let us be kids for a week while also learning.
Ella: Youth Tour was a defining moment in my life. It gave me a clear vision of what I wanted to do and the confidence to pursue it. Returning to Missouri, I felt more driven than ever to be a leader in my community and to stand boldly for my values. It inspired me to take on leadership roles on campus, from serving as president of both College Republicans and Turning Point USA at WashU to launching the Beyond the Ballot podcast. It also reaffirmed the importance of civic engagement and faith in my journey.
Q: What role did Youth Tour play in you returning to D.C. in your current role?
Athena: Everyone says Youth Tour is the trip of a lifetime, and they’re right. It changed my life and gave me lifelong friends. After Youth Tour, I finished my senior year of high school and enrolled at Mizzou. I intended to just get a journalism degree, but because of Youth Tour, I tacked on a political science degree as well. I credit Youth Tour for allowing me to see this world for the first time and fall in love with it. If it wasn’t for Youth Tour, I wouldn’t have found this thing I’m so passionate about.
Ella: Youth Tour planted the seed. It gave me my first hands-on experience in Washington, D.C., and made the idea of working in our nation’s capital feel tangible. It introduced me to mentors and a network that believed in me and encouraged me to take that next step. Without Youth Tour, I wouldn’t have had the courage or clarity to apply for and secure a congressional internship, where I returned to D.C. That initial experience made all the difference.