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A dozen rising high school seniors across Southside Electric Cooperative’s (SEC) 18-county service area will receive new laptop computers this summer through the YouthTECH program.

Students had a choice of a Dell personal computer or an Apple MacBook.

SEC created YouthTECH after the annual Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., was canceled this summer due to continuing concerns about COVID-19.

Students selected from The Herald readership are Jasmine Harris and Mason Kinne of Prince Edward County High School as well as Mariah Paras of Cumberland High School.

“We are pleased to recognize these outstanding students with a new laptop, which will be a wonderful asset as they finish high school and head off in many directions. In today’s digital world, having an electronic device is a necessity,” Lloyd Lenhart, SEC’s director of community relations, said. “We were thrilled with the number of well-qualified and accomplished students applying to the YouthTECH program, so much so that we decided to give additional laptops. We were impressed with the students’ classroom success, other involvement in school and the community, and their maturity.”

YouthTECH was open to any 11th-grade student who lives and attends school in one of SEC’s 18 counties. Students’ parents or guardians did not have to receive electricity from SEC.

This was the second year Youth Tour was canceled because of the pandemic. In 2020, SEC provided a cash award to the students who had been selected for the Youth Tour before it was canceled.

SEC hopes Youth Tour will resume in 2022. High school students from across America have been going to the nation’s capital as part of Youth Tour for more than 50 years. SEC sponsors eight rising high school seniors each year.