Area High School Students Invited to Participate in Youth Rally 2026

“The Youth Rally was such an amazing opportunity!” Natalie McEachern says.

Natalie was one of six students selected by Northern Lights, Inc. to attend the Idaho Consumer-Owned Utilities Association’s annual Youth Rally last year.

Youth Rally is a five-day leadership conference and scholarship program for high school students. Students are selected to attend by electric cooperatives from Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah and Alaska. Each year, ICUA brings 80 to 100 students together to learn about the cooperatives, the electric utility industry, government and civics while developing leadership skills, tackling challenges and importantly, having fun while building lifelong friendships.

Throughout the week, students learn from experts in the cooperative utility industry and gain perspective listening to inspiring and motivational speakers. They also experience a tour of the Idaho Capitol Building followed by an afternoon sliding down waterslides at Roaring Springs. It’s a lot of activities packed into five, fun-filled days.

Northern Lights encourages area students to apply to participate in this summer’s camp July 6 – 10 on the campus of Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho.

At the leadership camp, ICUA awards several students with scholarships ranging from $300 to $500, plus other awards and prizes. One student is also selected to represent Idaho in Washington DC, during the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Youth Tour. Like the leadership camp, all expenses are paid for the selected student to attend.

Natalie was selected by her peers to return as a Youth Director in 2025 and is looking forward to attending again in 2026.

“It was a fun experience that gave me a lot of confidence and support. The speakers were very inspiring, and I made so many amazing new friends!”

Area high school sophomores and juniors are invited to apply now through April 15.

Investing in local youth aligns with our cooperative principles and supports the development of future cooperative and community leaders. Northern Lights thanks the board and members for their support of this worthy program.

“Camp provided me with the ability to work on skill building, helping me build self-esteem and self-confidence. I met others that I developed friendship with and had a blast!” – Izzy Stark

Learn more about Youth Rally and apply