The idea took root while Orange County REMC Marketing and Sales Manager Montana Roberts was taking Indiana Electric Cooperatives’ RELITE program last year.
“I heard other participants talking about their student board, and the things they’d been doing,” she said. “I was really interested in learning more, so we were able to talk about it at length.”
When she came back, Roberts talked with CEO Matt Deaton and put together a proposal for the board of directors. Once approved, Roberts created an application for Orange County REMC’s first Student Board of Directors, sending it out to all area schools and posting it on the cooperative’s website.
Designed as a two-year program, the inaugural group is made up of six local high school juniors and will be joined by six more juniors at the start of the 2026-27 school year for a full 12-person board.
The inaugural Orange County REMC Student Board of Directors is, from left to right, Ava Deaton (secretary), Havanna Morgan (vice president), Reese Petty (president), Willow Rosbottom, Evelyn Taylor and Student Board advisor Montana Roberts. Not pictured is Alyssa Hughes.
Participants are asked to attend monthly board meetings from September to May. The board will also be involved in one community project and one fundraising project per school year. Students who complete the full two-year term will also receive a $2,000 college scholarship.
“I hope the students and the community, the schools see value in another opportunity for kids to see what’s out there and learn new things,” Roberts said.
The goal of the board is to expose students to board governance and project management, strengthen leadership skills and career development, enhance communication skills, build a portfolio for college admission, and provide a voice for their generation’s expectations of electric cooperatives.
At their first meeting last fall, the Orange County REMC Student Board of Directors, what some cooperatives might call a Junior Board, learned how a board works. Participants later elected a president, vice president and secretary, each of whom will carry those positions into next year.
“We’ve tried to give them some real-life decisions to make,” Roberts said. “They have gone through Operation RoundUp applications and submitted their recommendations to that board, and will go over Camp Kilowatt applications this spring. They’re learning a lot about the co-op in general.”
It’s a well-rounded group of students with two from Orleans, and one each from Crawford County, Mitchell, Springs Valley and a homeschool student.
“They all seem very eager to learn, Roberts said. “I’ve asked them, ‘What do you want out of this?’ They all say they want to learn about cooperatives as well as other businesses we provide power or internet to.”
The group did a toy drive to give back to the community before Christmas, and Roberts is eager to see what comes next.
“It’s still developing each time they meet,” she said. “Hopefully, they will go back to their schools and encourage others to apply for next year.”