Keeley Glidewell, age 16, a junior at Quitman High School, will represent WCEC at the Government in Action Youth Tour in Washington, D. C. this June. She is the daughter of Stephanie and John Harrell, of Pickton, and Daniel Glidewell of Quitman.
At Quitman ISD, Glidewell is an active member of the National Honor Society and serves on Student Council. She is also active in Future Farmer’s of America where she is a committee chair and has gone to state as a member of the Greenhand Skills Team. Among her accomplishments, she’s participated in One Act Play for the past 3 years where she also advanced to state. In her spare time, she’s a leader in her youth group at Faith Baptist Church.
In her winning essay, Glidewell reflected on her own core values of: “People, Passion, Integrity and Now”. Of the latter, “Now” value, she explained that although this is not generally a stated value, it’s the one most important to her for this reason, “Now means that we must work hard today so we can pave the way to a better future, support our families, and support ourselves. What we do now will affect those around us for years to come, so do something positive and set an example for future generations.”
As a delegate to Youth Tour, Glidewell will travel to Washington, D.C. with almost 160 teens from other Texas electric cooperatives where they will join hundreds more from across the nation. She’ll have the opportunity to meet congressional representatives and visit historic memorials and cultural centers.
The idea for Youth Tour originated with President Lyndon B. Johnson, who advocated for both rural electrification and youth development. In 1957, when he was still a U.S. Senator, he suggested sending youth to Washington where they could learn “what the flag stands for and represents.” This evolved into a nationwide electric cooperative effort.
The trip will begin in Austin where the participants will tour for a day and then fly to D.C. In D.C. they will visit the Capitol, the Supreme Court, Library of Congress, Washington National Cathedral, Arlington National Cemetery, George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, the Smithsonian Institution, the Bible Museum, Holocaust Memorial Museum, and various other memorials and monuments.