Local High School Senior Named National Spokesperson
Will Begin Monthly Magazine Column with September Issue
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383, Ext. 3213; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
Sparta, North Carolina (August 12, 2009) – Alleghany County has a rising star in Jacob Brooks. The Alleghany High School senior has been selected for several national honors, including being invited as a regular columnist in a statewide magazine, based on his leadership, speaking, and writing abilities.
First appearing in the September issue, Brooks will write a column called “Jacob’s Log” in Carolina Country, a consumer magazine published by the electric cooperatives of North Carolina and sent locally to all Blue Electric members. Brooks will also occasionally write for the magazine’s Facebook page. Brooks’s honors as well as his engaging, authentic style are what drew Carolina Country editor Michael Gery to invite him to become a regular columnist for the magazine.
This summer, Brooks was also selected to be the national spokesperson for the Youth Leadership Council of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). Before that, Brooks was chosen to represent North Carolina and attend the Youth Leadership Council Conference, held July 18-22, 2009, in Washington, D.C. The conference agenda included leadership and team building exercises, meeting with Capitol Hill staff members who are alumni of NRECA’s Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, and a competition to select the NRECA’s National Youth Spokesperson. While in Washington, Brooks and his fellow Youth Leadership Council participants also gained a broader understanding of cooperatives through their discussions with Glenn English, CEO of NRECA, Sheldon Peterson, Governor of the National Rural Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) and Bob Phillips, CEO of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC).
Brooks’s series of recognitions were set in place this spring when Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation chose him to attend the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. this June with over 1,500 high school students sponsored by their local electric cooperatives all across the country. Brooks is the son of Shelton and Sandy Brooks of Alleghany County.
Among his responsibilities as national spokesperson for the Youth Leadership Council, Brooks will address the national convention of electric cooperatives this coming February in Atlanta, Georgia. Additionally, he and other Youth Leadership Council members will provide assistance to the NRECA staff and co-op delegates; participate in the Parade of States at the opening General Session, and take part in a variety of educational activities.
Blue Ridge Electric serves approximately 73,000 members in Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Avery, Caldwell and Wilkes counties and is a part of NRECA, the national service organization representing the nation’s more than 900 private, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide electric service to 42 million people in 47 states.
