Each year in March, cooperatives around Alabama send groups of high school juniors to the state’s capital for the Montgomery Youth Tour. This year, North Alabama Electric Cooperative (NAEC) is sending 2 student representatives, Hudson Broadway, of Kate Duncan Smith DAR School, and Mercy Hambrick, of North Jackson High School.

Sponsored by local cooperatives like NAEC and the Alabama Rural Electric Association, the Montgomery Youth Tour helps students develop leadership skills as well as gain a better understanding of cooperatives and their state government. Students participate in interactive activities, while guest speakers focus on leadership principles in ways that relate to youth. Students also tour the Alabama Capitol, Alabama State House, and the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Visits include museums and historic sites, like the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church.

Last year, 145 high school students and 35 chaperones attended the event.

“The Montgomery Youth Tour is a unique learning experience for young people, and we are thrilled to be sending students this year,” NAEC General Manager Gena Hall says. “The students selected to attend are so eager to learn and participate in their schools and their communities. This experience can only broaden their understanding of the larger world around them and help strengthen their desire to be active citizens as they explore that world.”

The 2026 Montgomery Youth Tour will be held March 11 through March 13.