Local teens continue Walton EMC tradition

Four local high school students continued a Walton EMC tradition as the co-op’s 61st representatives at the 2025 Washington Youth Tour.

Bruin Johnston, Rachel Li and Haley Parsons, all of North Oconee High School, and Chloe Toole, Oconee High School, earned the opportunity to explore Washington, D.C., alongside 1,800 teens from across the nation. The week-long leadership and citizenship development experience is an all-expenses-paid trip organized by electric co-ops like Walton EMC.

The purpose of the Youth Tour is to help electric cooperatives promote stronger communities and a stronger nation by giving young people the ability and desire to make meaningful, lifelong contributions to their communities.

Parsons said connecting with youth from across the nation was a personal highlight of the trip. “We were able to … develop relationships that will last a lifetime,” she said.

Applications for the 2026 Washington Youth Tour will be available at waltonemc.com in late fall. Bruin urges eligible students to apply. “The opportunity to meet new people and see the inner workings of our country is one that very few people have, and one that broadens your understanding of our country,” he said.

Pictured above: (Left) Oconee High School’s Chloe Toole represents the 2025 Washington Youth Tour during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery. (Right) Walton EMC representatives, from left, Bruin Johnston, Haley Parsons, Chloe Toole and Rachel Li pause outside Mount Vernon, one of the national landmarks participants visited during the 2025 Washington Youth Tour.

View photo gallery

More about Washington Youth Tour