PBC Youth Tour Essay Contest
16–17-Year-Old High School Students: Enter the Paul Bunyan Communications Youth Tour Essay Contest for a Chance to Win a Trip to Washington D.C. Deadline is Friday, February 28
(Bemidji, MN) (January 3, 2025) Area High School Students aged 16 or 17 are encouraged to enter the Paul Bunyan Communications Essay Contest for a chance to attend the 2025 Youth Tour in Washington, D.C., June 2-6, with all expenses paid by Paul Bunyan Communications.
Students interested in attending the Youth Tour need to submit a short essay, no more than 500 words in length, on why they would like to attend the Youth Tour. Students must be 16 or 17 years of age and in high school with their parent/guardian a member of Paul Bunyan Communications Cooperative.
Entries can be dropped off at the Paul Bunyan Communications office in Bemidji or Grand Rapids or mailed to:
Paul Bunyan Communications Essay Contest
1831 Anne St. NW
Bemidji, MN 56601
The deadline for entries is Friday, February 28.
The trip features a comprehensive overview of the telecommunications industry, including careers in telecom, the critical role telecommunications plays in rural America, and how legislative and regulatory decisions affect the industry. The tour allows youth to meet with members of Congress who represent rural constituents. They also participate in educational sessions about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Students visit some of the nation’s most historic sites, including the Smithsonian Museums and a beautiful night tour of Washington, D.C.
"We hope that by providing our youth with the very latest in technology like Internet speeds up to 10 Gig, as well as exposing them to cultural and educational opportunities such as the FRS Youth Tour, our youth will remain in and become active members in our rural communities," said Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.
Paul Bunyan Communications has participated in sending a local high school student to the Youth Tour since 1996. Recent Youth Tour winners include Julia Frenzel of Blackduck (2024), Michael Van Horn of Blackduck (2023), and Amelia Scherling of Bemidji (2022)
The Foundation for Rural Service is dedicated to informing and improving the quality of life throughout rural America. Each year, it organizes the Youth Tour, designed to educate rural youth about the telecommunications industry and the federal political process. The FRS is a subsidiary of the NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association of which Paul Bunyan Communications is a member.
About Paul Bunyan Communications
Paul Bunyan Communications has the region’s largest and fastest all fiber optic network with over 6,000 square miles throughout most of Beltrami County and portions of Aitkin, Cass, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, and St. Louis Counties. The Cooperative provides fiber optic fast Internet speeds up to 10 Gig powered by the GigaZone, television services, digital voice services, Residential and Business IT services, and is also the home of northern Minnesota’s certified Apple Service Center.
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