Snapping Shoals EMC recently sent two outstanding high school students on an educational, fun-filled trip to Washington, D.C., as part of the Washington Youth Tour, an annual week of leadership training sponsored by Georgia's electric membership corporations. This year, Mack Parnell of Conyers and Marilyn Dyess of McDonough were chosen for the once-in-a-lifetime experience. In addition, each student will receive a $500 scholarship when they begin college.

Mack will be a senior this fall at Young Americans Christian School. He is the son of Ronald and Virginia Parnell. Marilynn will be a senior this year at Ola High School. She is the daughter of Robert and Sharon Dyess.

The Youth Tour teaches students about U.S. history, government and careers in public service. This year, Georgia's EMCs sponsored a total of 103 youth delegates on the June 11-18 tour, where they joined more than 1,500 youth from across the nation.

The 2009 Youth Tour began on June 11 in Atlanta. Before departing for Washington, D.C., the group visited FDR's Little White House in Warm Springs. After arriving in D.C., they toured the Supreme Court; the U.S. Capitol; the Washington National Cathedral; Mount Vernon the FDR, Jefferson, Lincoln, Korean and Vietnam Veterans memorials; and Arlington National Cemetery.

Georgia's youth delegates also had the chance to gain first-hand insights into today's most important issues through personal visits with their congressional delegations on Capitol Hill including Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson and U.S. Representatives John Barrow, Sanford Bishop, Paul Broun, Nathan Deal, Jack Kingston, Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland.