Feldner wins Youth Tour essay contest

When elected governor in December 2000,

Clay Feldner, a sophomore at Bismarck High School, will represent Capital Electric Cooperative at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Youth Tour. Pictured above, Clay and his horse, Black, competed at the Canadian Nationals. PHOTO CREDIT: FAYE UNRAU PHOTOGRAPHY

John Hoeven began working to build North Dakota’s future by focusing on six pillars of growth: education, economic development, agriculture, energy, technology and quality of life.

Clay Feldner, sophomore at Bismarck High School, expanded on four of those pillars in his Rural Electric Youth Tour essay. In a contest hosted by Capital Electric Cooperative and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, sophomore and junior students who live in Capital’s service area were invited to answer the following question: “You have just been elected governor of North Dakota. What priorities and approaches would your administration adopt to advance our state?”

In his winning essay, Clay says that if he were elected governor, he would:
• Increase funding for education while keeping low taxes;
• Support economic development;
• Encourage the agriculture and energy industries; and
• Attract people and businesses from out-of-state by advertising public safety.

To reward him for his efforts, Capital Electric will send Clay on an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. During the week of June 9-15, Clay will join 12 other students across North Dakota to learn about our national seat of government and our nation’s rich history.

Clay found out about the essay contest from his parents, Tom and Lisa Feldner of north Bismarck, who read about the contest in the Capital Electric center pages of North Dakota LIVING. Tom is a stockbroker and Lisa works as the chief information officer for the state Information Technology Department.

This is the second time Clay has entered an essay contest and won. The first time, he wrote a patriotic essay for a school project called the “Patriot’s Pen” and won $100. While he’s obviously good in English class, he says his favorites are Latin and biology. He also studies physics and enriched algebra, and plays the violin in orchestra.

After school at social functions, Clay plays his violin with the music group Strolling Strings. His plans for the summer include attending International Music Camp and the Rural Electric Youth Tour, playing baseball, and riding horses with his mom and brother, Grant.

The staff at Capital Electric Cooperative congratulates Clay on submitting the winning essay and hopes he enjoys his trip! We’ll visit with Clay again in August and find out what most impressed him on the tour.