Flippin' the Switch
Flippin' the Switch
S5 E8: Empowering the Youth in Our Community
Curious about how cooperative principles can shape the future of our youth? In this episode of Flippin' the Switch, we take you on an enlightening journey with Carson Lee, a rising senior from Jacksonville High School, as well as Caleb Snyder and Corinne Renny, both students from Jones Senior High School. Carson shares heartfelt stories from his time at the North Carolina Cooperative Camp, Caleb reflects on the transformative Washington DC Youth Tour, and Corinne shares the valuable lessons learned during her time as a governer's page. Jones-Onslow EMC is honored to be part of their stories, and we are hopeful for the future of our community! This episode is packed with inspiration and practical takeaways for anyone invested in youth empowerment and community engagement.
Welcome back listeners to another episode of Flippin' the Switch. We are so excited to bring you all a special episode highlighting the youth in our community. Join us as Crystal Phillips interviews Jacksonville High School student Carson Lee and Linda Mathiason interviews Jones Senior High School students Caleb Snyder and Corinne Rennie. They take us through their summer adventures, embarking on a trip to co-op camp, the electric cooperative youth tour and a governor's page. We love seeing the future of our community shine in more ways than one. You won't want to miss this. So with that let's start Flippin' the Switch.
Speaker 2:In this portion of Flippin' the Switch, we have the pleasure of having Carson Lee, a rising senior from Jacksonville High School, with us today. Welcome, carson.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:We're excited to have you here. Carson has been the inaugural person for our cooperative to attend North Carolina Cooperative Camp, and that's why he's here with us today. So we're going to talk a little bit about it Now. Carson applied for our Washington DC Youth Tour In the years past. We always have four students that go from our service territory and then we have two alternates, and previously they received a gift card. But this year we decided to up the game a little bit and he had the unique opportunity to go to cooperative camp. So we're going to start it off with what kind of inspired you to even apply for Washington?
Speaker 3:DC Youth Tour. As many of y'all probably know, I am now the fourth member of my family to apply and win through the Jones-Onzo scholarships. My mom was the first when she was a teenager in Dupin County, ashton was the second one and she actually went to the DC trip. And Catherine, she was supposed to go to DC but because of COVID she got through the virtual floor.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, it was a virtual time during COVID years, so she got to zoom in to DC.
Speaker 3:Yes, Now me recently I applied just to continue the legacy, see if I can get the scholarship or whatever else.
Speaker 2:And it seems like it worked out.
Speaker 3:I've loved it.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. So when you kind of made that decision to apply, it was a pretty easy process. I think Jacksonville High School has a strong legacy of folks that are winners that come out of that for DC Youth Tour. I think it speaks to just kind of the marketing and all of that. You know the educators are behind the program speaks to just kind of the marketing and all of that. You know the educators are behind the program. But when you got there to cooperative camp, what was that experience like for you?
Speaker 3:It was a new experience which I'm a Boy Scout, so I've been to many summer camps, but it was a very nice camp.
Speaker 2:Where was it, do you remember?
Speaker 3:Camp.
Speaker 2:Monroe, so on Mount Laurel, north Carolina. Yeah, I think that camp is pretty big too and it's utilized throughout the summer and probably all year for various camps. So what was one of the highlights from that camp experience for you?
Speaker 3:One of the highlights was other than talking to my cabin till late hours of the night with our counselor from Ghana.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I heard your mom told me that you had an international counselor.
Speaker 3:Yes, we loved him. And then also was our talent show on our Friday night on the last day of camp. That was a great experience.
Speaker 2:Okay, now you can't tease us with the talent show and not tell us what you did. So what did you guys do?
Speaker 3:All right. So my group we got all the boys from our cabin and the other cabin to do a dance routine.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm sure Is there video evidence of this? Okay, I I'm sure there's video evidence of this.
Speaker 3:Okay, I'm going to have to ask your mom. I have the video. I can send it to you later. We did a dance routine. I won the songs, which I did not know the song when I first got there, but I learned it. I loved it. Our group was called C5.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love it Like a little boy band from co-op camp. It's pretty cool. Now, what are some of important things you feel like you took away from camp that made?
Speaker 3:it special. What did you kind of learn while you were there? I learned that there's a lot more co-ops than I thought there ever was. Like I did not realize that credit units were co-ops, or if Jones-Onzo was at first. I just didn't really understand it.
Speaker 2:Just to share with our listeners. Part of what the North Carolina Cooperative Camp does is that you certainly it's a summer camp experience. You get to do all the activities but at the same time, there's a underlying reason why you're there and it's to learn a unique business model which is what the cooperative is.
Speaker 2:Yes, there are lots of cooperatives out there that you would have never known Like. Before I started at Jones Onslow, I thought of like a food co-op. You know that was a big one to me, that I knew what that was. But you have no idea that REI is a co-op, yes, which I love. Rei I do too. There are all sorts of things that are out there that are unique to this world. Yes, ma'am, what are some of the things you learned about a co-op that you think makes it unique?
Speaker 3:How much one person can help in a co-op, because it's not just like one person has all the shares, controls the company. No, it's everybody. So it's a big leadership group.
Speaker 2:That is true and you know Jones-Onsel is founded on seven cooperative principles and you probably learned a bit about that and part of that is that every voice matters. Yes, and so that's a unique co-op principle. Now you've attended camp and you're done with that, but how do you think it's influenced you? And moving forward, like your perspective on co-ops seems like it has really kind of broadened Do you think it's going to stick with you and kind of do community involvement?
Speaker 3:It will, cause I've learned a lot from the co-ops and actually I learned to kind of live life to the fullest more because I've met so many new people I've never met before and so many different experiences.
Speaker 2:You think those friends that you made at camp you'll stay in touch with?
Speaker 3:Yes, I actually have been.
Speaker 2:I love it. See, that's what camp's all about. It's kind of like those lifelong memories. And who knows, you may end up at the same college together.
Speaker 3:I say, talk to a lot of them. We're all talking about going to NC State or different colleges and go to football games together and just having a lot of fun together.
Speaker 2:That's awesome core life memories that we always try to find Now. What advice would you give other students who are considering attending North Carolina co-op camp?
Speaker 3:Do it, just sign up and try and do it.
Speaker 2:I think that's good advice.
Speaker 3:It's worth it. I loved it. I want to go back next year.
Speaker 2:Hey, let's see if we can make that happen. That'd be awesome. Maybe you could be a counselor, who knows, maybe. So what do you think the skills and knowledge that you gained at camp kind of will benefit you for the future? Because you're getting ready to go to college in a year, do you think, like, what you garnered during that week you'll kind of carry with you?
Speaker 3:Yes, I will.
Speaker 2:It seems like you kind of learned stepping out of your comfort zone. Yes, C5 seems like that helped too. It did. Now we've kind of tidbit about like what your plans are after high school. Can you share those with our listeners? What you're hoping to do All?
Speaker 3:right. So after I graduate from high school I plan on to attend NC State in the engineering department, probably civil and structural engineering.
Speaker 2:He could have a job here at Johns Onslow, who knows? Yeah, stay local.
Speaker 3:After I graduate, I either plan to come in here or the Seattle Jacksonville Engineering Department because I've been interning with them over this past school year.
Speaker 2:You've got like big plans for yourself, yeah, so you're hoping to be an engineer, and I love that. You want to come back to the community where it all started. We do know that you are a family of legacy, so I think that's unique to you guys. You love where you come from. Now, how do you plan to stay involved with cooperatives in the community as you move forward, like whether it's next year, next few years? How do you want to be more like community oriented?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, I'm a Boy Scout, like I said, and I've done community service since I was seven through Scouts.
Speaker 2:So it's in your blood. It is, so are you hoping to continue that?
Speaker 3:Yes, after I turn 18 in October, I'm going to apply to become an adult in my troop.
Speaker 2:You may end up being like a leader within Boy Scouts indefinitely.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Well, Carson, it sounds like co-op camp was a win-win.
Speaker 3:It was.
Speaker 2:And it seems to me that you have a very bright future ahead of yourself. Yes, you're going to do big things, and you're just part of the reason that we do what we do every day. So we really appreciate you being here with us on our podcast and we wish you all the best and go Wolfpack.
Speaker 4:Yes.
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Speaker 6:For the last 57 years, north Carolina's electric cooperatives have been giving students from 44 states, sharing their diverse backgrounds and perspectives and learning about how co-ops are working together to power a brighter future. And Jones-Onslow sends four students each year, and we have one of our students here this year for our podcast interview, and it's Caleb Snyder. He is from Jones County, so welcome, caleb.
Speaker 7:Thank you.
Speaker 6:Okay, caleb, can you tell me a little bit about your background? You know where you go to school, what your interests are?
Speaker 7:So I go to school at Jones Senior High School. I was born in New Bern, lived in Jones County pretty much my whole life. Dad is Marine Corps. I am a rising senior.
Speaker 6:And what are your plans for the future? You plan on staying in Jemez County.
Speaker 7:No, I plan on getting out at some point.
Speaker 6:Explore your horizons right. So, Caleb, how did you find out about the youth tour?
Speaker 7:Somebody came to my school and was talking about it. They came in and they were like hey, I need all of the juniors to come into the library. And she sat there and she talked about it and it really intrigued me. And then I went to biology and I had Mr Patel for biology.
Speaker 6:For those of you that know, mr Patel actually was a youth tourist for Jones-Onslow maybe eight years ago or so, and then he went to college and became a teacher at Jones Senior. So he's a big advocate for the youth tour. So that's how that connection with Mr Patel is.
Speaker 7:Yeah, I had to do like a little essay for it. It was like a minimum of 500 words or I think we couldn't go any more higher than 500 words. Yeah, that was very, very interesting and very challenging. Do you recall what you wrote?
Speaker 6:your essay on.
Speaker 7:I believe it was what we would do if we didn't have power or if, like, all the power just suddenly went out, right.
Speaker 6:I heard you were pretty excited when Crystal came in to announce that you were the winner, so you were quite surprised.
Speaker 7:I was.
Speaker 6:Yes, so you didn't think that you would have a chance.
Speaker 7:It wasn't that I didn't think I'd have a chance. There was a couple other people that did it too, and I felt like they were going to get it, because you know they were better at writing than I was, because I'm not very good at writing. Writing's not your specialty, yeah. Yeah, it's more like science and stuff like that. My librarian came into my classroom and she was like Caleb, I need to, I need to see you real quick. And she pulled me out of the classroom and we started walking back to the principal's office. I'm in trouble for something I didn't even do. Oh, something bad happened.
Speaker 7:So it didn't even cross your mind like what was going to happen, because she said it was going to be like sometime around March time frame that I was going to get the news back if I won.
Speaker 6:Right Surprise.
Speaker 7:Yeah, oh good, I was in that room, saw everybody and I was like oh man.
Speaker 6:It's always great to see the reactions of everybody. What were your expectations going into the trip and how do they compare to your actual experience?
Speaker 7:Yeah, I was really excited, but I didn't really know what to expect. I just knew I was going to a big city I'd never been to before. Kind of weird coming from one stoplight town.
Speaker 6:Right, one stoplight town and coming into, going to DC.
Speaker 7:Yeah.
Speaker 6:With 41 other students from North Carolina that you never met before. Yeah, so what were some of your highlights of your time in DC, and were there any memorable moments or experience that stand out?
Speaker 7:I was with a group of guys and we became very good friends. We got to take a picture in front of the White House, which later we found out it was actually the backyard of the White House. It was still the White House. Yeah, it was still the White House. And then we got to see the Lincoln Memorial and a couple other very fascinating things.
Speaker 6:So were there any challenges you faced during the trip? Being thrown together with 41 strangers for a week can be challenging.
Speaker 7:Yeah, it was very hard to get to know everybody and get to meet everybody and be friends with everybody. It was difficult because you got people from everywhere all over the place and people act differently, like stuff you're not used to get to find where you fit in and I find it interesting.
Speaker 6:I like seeing the students when they first get there, the ones that I met. They were always like, oh my God, I'm so nervous, I don't know anybody. And I had to reassure them like everybody's in the same boat. Nobody knows anybody here, trust me, everybody here is nervous. And then by the end of the week, I mean you're interacting with so many different students that you never thought you would have ever interacted with and you become like best friends in the end. Speaking of that, so you mentioned you had a group of guys that you hung out with.
Speaker 6:Do you still keep in touch with them?
Speaker 7:Some of them yes, Others no, because they're not as active on like social media and stuff like that, because they literally live in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 6:Okay, so it's interesting. You got to meet students from all over. I'm not sure if you knew anything about electric cooperatives before you applied for the youth tour and before you went on the youth tour in DC, but did the experience change your perspective on that and the role they play in your community?
Speaker 7:Yes, it did. I learned a lot of things that helped me to better understand the importance of electrical co-ops, like how my power lines get fixed so I have power to my house and be able to stay in the AC when it's hot.
Speaker 6:A better appreciation right, Something you never thought of before. Can you describe a typical day on the youth tour? I know each day is different, but they are in a sense the same.
Speaker 7:Yeah, a lot of walking. It was very hot the whole time, like 90 degree plus weather.
Speaker 6:Sometimes you're up at six o'clock in the morning, you're down the lobby at seven o'clock in the morning, you're eating breakfast, you get on the bus and you go. You go all day long and sometimes you're not back until nine, ten o'clock that night. Not a lot of free time to like really goof off and get in trouble.
Speaker 7:No, if there was a rule like if you got in some serious, like big trouble, that you would go home, and that's what everybody was scared of. Thankfully, nobody went home. Well, good.
Speaker 6:Y'all can't see this, but Caleb has probably I'm saying probably at least 65, 75 pins in front of me, and do you want to tell our listeners what the pins are all about?
Speaker 7:Yeah, sure, so each state has a couple of different pins. There's also chaperone pins. I can't remember which state it was, but they have a for students, they have a Great Lakes pin, and then for the chaperones, they have a heart with kind of like a picture of the Great Lakes in it. Too Nice. So I was able to trade with some chaperones.
Speaker 6:So you're taking your North Carolina pins and trading them with students from across the US. Yeah, so you have pins from Illinois, north Dakota, hawaii, kansas, maine, michigan, arkansas, oklahoma. I mean all sorts of different pins. I mean these are really, really interesting. So that's kind of a cool way to get to meet students, even if it is on brief, from across the US. All these students here were there for the same purpose the electric cooperative youth tour. Now to visiting the national monuments. The memorials impact you.
Speaker 7:There were some war monuments that kind of stuck on with me because I saw some people that had the same last name as me and I later found out I was not related to them, but just that that minor thinking of like hey, these could be my great grandparents.
Speaker 6:Yeah, great relatives somewhere down the line, yes, and that was probably like at the World War II Memorial, yeah, and then the Vietnam Memorial is another one. There's a lot of names, yeah, very cool. So spending a week in DC learning about electric cooperatives and just our history and our government did it influence your future goals? Any? Has it been either positive or negative?
Speaker 7:A little bit. I kind of solidified the fact that I don't necessarily want to go into a government role like sort of thing like that. I'd rather just work a trade job, tradesman, or join the military or something like that.
Speaker 6:So you spend a day on Capitol Hill and you get to either meet with elected officials or their staffers. Did they say, did they talk about anything that influenced your decision to not get into politics, or just did you realize how cumbersome it can be and how time consuming it can be?
Speaker 7:Yeah, it was more or less like the time consuming part. I understand trade jobs can be very time consuming, but it's the heaviness of the paperwork. I'm not very good with paperwork.
Speaker 6:It's a huge commitment.
Speaker 7:Yeah, very huge.
Speaker 6:So what was the most surprising thing you learned on the trip? Something like you maybe didn't expect.
Speaker 7:There was a lot of people, a lot of people, a lot of people. It really makes you have a different type of appreciation for the electrical co-ops and stuff like that that they service so many people all around the US in different places too. It's just, it's truly amazing.
Speaker 6:So did you have one favorite experience while you were there, whether it be a monument, whether it be a museum, whether it be a connection you made with somebody.
Speaker 7:Yeah, the Air and Space Museum was pretty cool. I got to see a couple planes that my dad and my grandfather worked on when they were in Afghanistan and Iraq. Got to see like first planes ever made and like different space shuttles, and I'm pretty sure there was like a missile in there too at some point. But it was pretty cool.
Speaker 6:What do you think is the most important thing for people to know about electric cooperatives?
Speaker 7:Well, there's a lot of them. There's a very vast amount that cover a very large amount of area. They power your house and make sure everything's up and maintenance, Like when we have big storms like hurricanes and stuff like that. They send linemen out to repair the power lines and keep the lights on.
Speaker 6:Better appreciation.
Speaker 7:Yeah, better appreciation. And they give back to the community by sending students like me and my fellow peers to DC on the youth tour.
Speaker 6:And what do you hope to achieve in your future career?
Speaker 7:I've thought about it a lot and I'm kind of sticking towards more of like the trade job, like welding and plumbing and concrete and other stuff like that. But the military is definitely still in the picture.
Speaker 6:All right, well, good, maybe you'll be able to fly one of those planes that you saw in the Udvari Air and Space Museum. Now one last question, caleb what advice would you give to other high school students who are considering participating, or I should say applying, to the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour?
Speaker 7:Do it. It was a very amazing experience and it's truly once in a lifetime. It opened my eyes to a lot of things and made me realize the true appreciation for like electricity in general and the people that help.
Speaker 6:All right, well, there we go. Thank you, caleb.
Speaker 7:Yep Thank you.
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Speaker 6:See all the hassle-free ways to pay and manage your account today at joemccom. Forward slash easy. Our next guest is Corinne Rennie. She is a Jones County resident and she was a governor's page and she is going to tell us a little bit about her experience. So welcome, Corinne.
Speaker 5:My name is Corinne Rennie. I'm an upcoming junior at Jones Senior High School.
Speaker 6:I'm a member of HOSA, future Health Professionals Okay so how did you come about being a governor's page then?
Speaker 5:So I really enjoyed my time as a house page. I wanted to be a governor's page, so I applied for it with the help of Ms Kreese. I applied and like a day later, like I got accepted into it, were you pretty excited, yeah.
Speaker 6:So which department did you page with during your time as a North Carolina government's page?
Speaker 5:I think it was the Department of Administration. That's where the page office was and where we went every day.
Speaker 6:Was there specific projects or tasks that you worked on during the program?
Speaker 5:Yeah. So we all had to come up with a project proposal for, like a department that we chose. So, for example, I chose the Department of Health and Human Services, so I had to come up with a proposal. So we'd all present the project after we finished it on the last day. We also had a service project, so it's something that we do for the community around where we live. So for my service project I was thinking about bringing Be the Match into our county. They take your saliva and you can help to save somebody's life if you're like their match. I remember one time this girl at a conference she told us about how she donated her bone marrow to this little boy who needed it through.
Speaker 6:Be the Match. Did you get to interact with the governor directly? I did. What was that like?
Speaker 5:It was really great. He was super nice and he knew about Jones County.
Speaker 6:What inspired you to apply for the North Carolina Governor's Page program?
Speaker 5:You know being a House page and I just really enjoyed my time as a House page so I wanted to try the Governor's Page.
Speaker 6:What was the difference between being a house page and a governor's page? Like were your duties? The same?
Speaker 5:No, they weren't A house page, like yeah, we had a little bit of fun, but it was like a lot more serious, I feel like. And then I got the house page.
Speaker 6:it was like A little more laid back. Yeah, yeah, good. So can you share some highlights of your overall experience while you were up in Raleigh?
Speaker 5:I actually got to go out on Lake Jordan with my host family. They took me out there on their boat.
Speaker 6:So you stayed with the host family while you were up there. I did when you weren't busy being a page. Did you have some free time to?
Speaker 5:connect with other pages in the program. I did, yeah, during lunch we actually like split into a couple of groups to hang out, and then sometimes we had free time and we were in the page room. We played Mafia, which is like a fun game and everybody enjoyed it.
Speaker 6:So how has this experience influenced your understanding of how government functions?
Speaker 5:Just how many people work together to make everything come together and function.
Speaker 6:Looking back, what do you consider the most valuable takeaway from your experience?
Speaker 5:Getting to meet so many important people who do so much for our state and getting to hear about all the different departments.
Speaker 6:What advice would you give to students considering applying to be a governance page?
Speaker 5:Bring comfortable shoes, as long as we brought our fancy shoes. And also, if it's hot out, bring like a tiny portable fan.
Speaker 6:It's the simple things, yeah, nice Well. Thank you so much, corinne.
Speaker 8:Well, folks, that'll do it for this episode of Flipping the Switch Until next time. If you don't currently follow us on Facebook, instagram or any of our other social media channels, consider doing so. It's the best way to keep informed about what's going on with your cooperative. Thanks again.