When you ask Starkville High School senior Carey Beth Honnoll what she did this summer, it’s not the typical beach trips and laying beside the pool.
There’s some of that, for sure, but this Yellow Jacket’s summer highlights include sitting on the floor of the United States House of Representatives and visiting the Iwo Jima Monument with some of the best and brightest high school students in the nation.
Carey Beth, who will graduate in May with her high school diploma, visited Washington D.C. in June as part of the 4-County Cooperative Youth Leaders Program. She was one of four students from our local cooperative and among only 84 across the state who represented Mississippi in the Youth Tour of Washington D.C. The Tour is a weeklong trip and leadership event organized by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) to help state student delegations experience the nation’s capitol, meet with law makers and learn about cooperatives from different states.
Carey Beth returned with a new sense of the important role utility cooperatives play – and with a lot of new friends.
“I am incredibly grateful for being chosen, and it is indeed an honor to represent my local cooperative – 4-County,” Carey Beth said. “I really can’t put a number on how many things I learned during this trip to Washington. Our schedule was completely packed with sightseeing, museum visits, and eating in new places. We saw many of the other state groups while moving through the city. At the end of the week, we attended a conference between the states and got to meet students from all over the country.”
Mississippi’s delegation to the Youth Tour of Washington D.C. was chosen through a lengthy and competitive process, and students participated in leadership development opportunities at each stage leading up to selection. Based on grades, leadership experience and student involvement, Carey Beth was selected by school counselors to represent SHS at the 4-County Electric Power Association Cooperative University last November.
Cooperative University (Co-op U) is an annual learning and leadership development opportunity for students selected by their high schools, designed to educate youth about the vital impact electric cooperatives make on local communities and the intersection of the political process and the cooperative business model.
Seventeen area students attended the 2024 Co-op U and heard from Tennessee Valley Authority engineers about electric generation. 4-County linemen also presented a hot line demonstration. In addition, the students participated in a panel discussion with local legislative representatives.
Throughout the Cooperative Youth Leadership Program’s selection process, “cooperative” was the key word, and much of the programming focused on the impact the cooperative model has on giving communities access to reliable services. But, it also highlighted the cooperative nature of leadership skills, courageous decision-making, and effective communication through an emphasis on team-building and working together – skills Carey Beth says she has learned through some of her experiences at Starkville High School.
“I definitely feel that Starkville High School has prepared me for pursuing this type of opportunity with 4-County by offering so many team sports and student-led activities,” Carey Beth said. “Participating in sports and extracurricular activities has allowed me to work together with many different types of people and learn from them to accomplish common goals, and of course, all of my teachers have contributed to my success.”
Carey Beth serves as a Drum Major in the SHS marching band and is a member of the Yellow Jacket Softball team. She has also earned membership in Starkville High’s National Honor Society and Beta Club, as well as in several college honor societies based on the dual enrollment courses she has taken. She is currently on track to complete her associate’s degree from East Mississippi Community College at the same time she graduates from high school, a feat that involves completing 60 semester credit hours through dual credit courses.
These opportunities for advanced study have positioned Carey Beth to pursue her goals after high school, and she’s already getting started.
After graduation, she hopes to attend the University of Mississippi and enroll in the Early Entry Pharmacy Program with plans to become a pharmacist. She says that a big part of her senior year at SHS will be devoted to “starting my career!”
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