Each year, Central hosts a contest for high school juniors living within Central’s service area to attend Youth Tour at our nation’s capital.

This year, Kimberly Ellis from Pawnee and Conlan Filleman from Guthrie were selected as winners. They visited Washington, D.C. in June with other winners from cooperatives across Oklahoma. 

Central’s Marketing and Communications Specialist, Kory Bowman, joined the week-long trip as a chaperone.

“It was an incredible experience, and I loved seeing Oklahoma represented at our Capitol,” Bowman said. “My favorite part of the trip was watching our youth take such an interest in our national political environment and history.” 

Ellis, Filleman and Bowman met U.S. Senators, visited national monuments, historical sights, Smithsonian museums and cruised the Potomac River on a riverboat dinner cruise. 

The participants competed against other high school juniors in an essay contest. The top five finalists were interviewed with Ellis and Filleman winning the week-long, all-expense-paid trip, and the three runner-up applicants receiving $1,000 scholarships. 

The Youth Tour competition for 2026 will open to high school juniors on Sept. 1. Those interested in applying or who want to learn more can do so here.