Los Alamos students win scholarship trip to Idaho youth rally

Two Los Alamos High School students, Mackenzie Adams and Beau Ward, won spots in a regional youth rally that pairs leadership training with a $500 college scholarship and an all-paid trip to Idaho. Their selection extends a Los Alamos streak that has put at least one student into the program every year since 2023.

The county announced the winners May 5 after Adams, a sophomore, and Ward, a junior, advanced through an essay contest on the theme, “Consumer-Owned Utilities: Why Having a Diverse Power Portfolio is Important to Utilities.” Their essays were reviewed first by staff with the Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities, then forwarded to the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, which chose to sponsor both students.

The Youth Rally will run July 6-10 at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. UAMPS says the 2026 sponsorship covers four youth with an all-paid round trip between Salt Lake City and Nampa, along with the scholarship. The rally is designed for sophomores and juniors from across the Intermountain West and brings them into a week of instruction and activities centered on government, consumer-owned utilities, renewable energy, electric generation, teamwork and leadership.

The week is built around more than classroom-style learning. Students are scheduled to visit the Idaho Capitol, take part in an obstacle course, attend a dance and a talent show, and spend time at the Idaho Waterpark. County and UAMPS materials describe the goal as helping young people build leadership skills, meet peers from other states and see how public power systems, civics and energy policy intersect.

For Los Alamos, the repeated success points to a steady pipeline rather than a one-time prize. The county says the April 3 application deadline for the 2026 rally gave LAHS sophomores and juniors a clear route into the program, and the annual streak since 2023 suggests the Department of Public Utilities has become a reliable bridge between local students and regional energy institutions. For Adams and Ward, the award brings scholarship money and a summer in Nampa. For the county, it offers a visible reminder that the next generation of utility and public-service leaders is already coming through Los Alamos High School.