Bemidji High Junior Earns Beltrami Electric's 2026 Youth Tour Trip to Washington, D.C.

Jacobi Burmeister Pater, a junior at Bemidji High School, was named Beltrami Electric Cooperative's delegate to the 2026 Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., the cooperative announced March 17.

Jacobi earned the selection by submitting an essay explaining what makes electric cooperatives unique and how Beltrami Electric stands apart from other utilities. The cooperative's Youth Tour coordinator, Angela Lyseng, and Beltrami Electric staff administered the selection process.

"The Youth Tour is an incredible opportunity for students to see our nation's capital firsthand and gain a deeper understanding of how government decisions affect our rural communities," Lyseng said. "We're proud to have Jacobi represent our cooperative and excited to see the impact this experience will have on her future."

The selection reflects more than academic achievement. Jacobi serves as a student representative on the Bemidji School Board, volunteers through the National Honor Society, and has a strong interest in political science. She is the daughter of McKenzi Burmeister and Brett Pater of Bemidji.

Beltrami Electric has sponsored a local high school student for the Youth Tour every year since 1993. The national program dates to the late 1950s, when electric cooperatives created it to help young people learn about leadership, civic engagement, and the role cooperatives play in delivering reliable, affordable electricity to rural communities across the country.

For Beltrami County, whose residents depend on cooperative infrastructure for power across a largely rural landscape, the program carries particular resonance. Sending a student with Jacobi's civic profile, a sitting school board representative with ties to political science, to Washington fits squarely within that mission.