A chance to earn scholarships.
An opportunity to learn about her strengths.
Fun and engaging sessions aimed at developing leadership and career skills.
Pipestone (MN) High School junior Lauren Lapthorn said those were all reasons she got involved in the EmPOWER Youth program sponsored by Sioux Valley Energy a few years ago.
“I was looking for all of those things and so I joined,” Lapthorn said.
Lapthorn signed up for Sioux Valley’s EmPOWER Youth program in 2016. After attending the sessions and completing the program during the 2016-2017 school year, Lapthorn is now serving on the EmPOWER Youth advisory committee and planning sessions for this year’s participants in the program.
“They have gone from the shy kid in the corner to the young adult leading and mentoring other students. Their transition has been truly amazing.”
EmPOWER Youth was launched by Sioux Valley Energy in 2014. Sioux Valley Energy is headquartered in Colman, South Dakota, and is the largest electric cooperative in the state. The co-op serves members in southeastern South Dakota and southwest Minnesota. Sioux Valley started the program as a way to engage local high school students with their communities.
“The Board of Directors wanted to have an active role in developing students into leaders that will hopefully someday be tomorrow’s co-op employees or board members,” Sioux Valley’s General Manager/CEO Tim McCarthy said.
The program aims to introduce teens to leadership and communications training as well as giving them an outlet to discover their strengths and explore future careers.
“We have students blossom from this program,” McCarthy said. “They have gone from the shy kid in the corner to the young adult leading and mentoring other students. Their transition has been truly amazing.”
Sioux Valley’s EmPOWER Youth program has been so successful that it is now being expanded to co-ops throughout North Dakota and South Dakota. Basin Electric Power Cooperative, which operates the power plants and generating resources used by electric cooperatives in the region, is taking the lead to bring the program to co-ops like Northern Electric.
“It will be truly focused on students learning about themselves,” Empower Youth Coordinator Kristie Ching said.
The new Empower Youth program is sponsored by the electric co-ops in North Dakota and South Dakota and is free to students who apply. The program is open to any high school student within Northern Electric Cooperative’s service territory.
Empower Youth will consist of three separate sessions throughout the summer. The first session will be a one-day leadership training session at Central Electric Cooperative in Mitchell, South Dakota, on May 31. Teens participating in Empower Youth will also attend the four-day Youth Excursion trip to Bismarck, North Dakota, from July 23-26. Participants will stay at Bismarck State College and learn about energy careers, tour power generation facilities, and take part in networking and team-building activities with other co-op youth from across the region. The third and final Empower Youth session will be held on August 7 at Mitchell Technical Institute in Mitchell.
Find More Empower Youth Information Here
“The program is going to be designed to focus a lot more on professionalism and what teens need to know as they move on to college and careers and to be the best that they can be,” Ching said.
Sioux Valley started the EmPOWER Youth program with the vision that it would one day expand to more students in the state.
“We have seen this program open opportunities to students they never thought were possible,” McCarthy said. “We hope EmPOWER Youth will spread to other cooperatives and continue to make a huge impact on our students who will be leaders tomorrow.”
The new Empower Youth program that is being offered to students across the state will also provide scholarship opportunities for teens who participate in various program and co-op activities. Students need to register for the summer sessions at www.empoweryouth.coop by April 18.
Lapthorn says the program has already helped her with job prospects in her community and she would encourage other teens to apply.
“Leadership is not always leading the group but most of the time listening to others and taking in their points of view,” Lapthorn said. “I’d say definitely do it. You gain a lot of skills, knowledge, and friendships.”