IECA would like to congratulate our own employee Dalton Clayton, Director of Engineering and wife Rachel Clayton's  daughter Ralee Clayton for winning one of two Washington DC trips sponsored by AMEC.  Each year AMEC holds a competition separate of the local schools Youth Tour Essay Contest as children and grandchildren of current employees or Board of Directors are ineligible to participate with all of the other juniors in the regular essay contest.  The contest is held statewide and includes all distribution cooperatives, G&T's, and AECI as well.  Each contestant must submit an essay, 700-1000 words, on the following topic:   Electric co-ops were formed to improve the lives of citizens in rural Missouri.  Explain something you have done or want to do that will better the lives of the people around you or in your community.  Entries are judged with no names on the essays, by judges not affiliated with local cooperatives, they are judged on content (facts/research), grammar/writing and creativity against children of employees across the state.  AMEC sends the two highest scoring essays to Washington DC in June and the two second highest scoring receive a trip to the Cooperative Youth Conference and Leadership Experience (CYCLE) held in Jefferson City in July.  

Congratulations Ralee for being chosen one of the top two essays in the state against cooperative employees children state wide, that is quite an accomplishment.  IECA's board of directors, staff and employees are proud of you.