Kansas Electric Cooperatives’ (KEC) Director of Education and Training Shana Read was working on the schedule and appointments for the 2025 Youth Tour when she saw a familiar name. It was BLAKE PHILLIPS, scheduler for Kansas Congressman Tracey Mann, and former delegate representing FreeState at the 2018 Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp (CYLC).
Shana was excited to share the news and get us in contact with Blake, saying, “It’s always so satisfying to see when these student leaders become community leaders.”
Blake was recognized for his leadership even among the other students at CYLC. One of their activities is to form their own cooperative for the duration of camp. Blake was elected by his peers to serve on the camp cooperative board.
After returning, Blake said, “Being a member of the board had a big impact on me. It allowed me to work on my leadership skills and to work as a team. It also showed me just how much our cooperative board members do for us.”
We reached out to Blake and were excited to find that he was just as gracious and impressive as a grown-up as the student selected for camp seven years ago. He was happy to answer our questions about his experience, in hopes his testimony may help future youth program winners feel more at ease and get as much value from the opportunities as they can.