Two local students flew to Washington, D.C. recently for an all-expense paid tour of the nation's capital, having won an essay contest annually sponsored by Coweta-Fayette EMC.

The contest, open to students in the 10th and 11th grades, requires them to write 500-word essays on their choice of three subjects relating to the electric utility industry and how it affects people's lives.

This year, Shaun Chunta and Amy Ann Roberts, both Fayette County High School students, were recommended by English Teacher Becky Lewis to make the Washington trip.

According to EMC president and CEO Michael Whiteside, the Washington Youth Tour serves various purposes. “In addition to being a valuable learning experience from the standpoint of our country's history,” he said, “this trip fosters leadership in students who will one day be at the helm of our communities and even our country.”

President Lyndon Johnson began the Youth Tour in an effort to give students a close-up look at government and to spawn leadership. More than 1,000 young people representing cooperatives from 26 states met with state and national leaders to exchange ideas, and also went sightseeing.

Before leaving for their trip, the group learned about Georgia's 42 EMCs and the entire industry during a tour of the headquarters of Georgia Electric Membership Corporation and Oglethorpe Power Corporation in Tucker.

Coweta-Fayette EMC has provided electricity and other services for more than 50 years to more than 51,000 consumers in one of the nation's fastest-growing areas, including Coweta, Fayette, South Fulton, Heard, Meriwether, Spalding and Troup Counties.

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