Editor’s note: In celebration of Penn Lines’ 60th anniversary, we asked a recent Youth Tour student to interview a former participant. The result is this article written by 19-year-old Brandon Hurley about Michael Knapp, both of whom represented Somerset Rural Electric Cooperative on the trip — one in 2024, and the other in 1975.

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When young Michael Knapp stepped off his bus into our nation’s capital, his “eyes popped” at seeing the difference between his hometown in rural Pennsylvania and the “beautiful town of D.C.”

It was the mid-1970s, and Knapp, a high school junior from Somerset County, had arrived in the city for the Rural Electric Youth Tour.

Little did he know that trip would have a tremendous impact on his life, and the city would become central to
his life.

‘Very fortunate’

Youth Tour, an annual trip for high school juniors who live in cooperative communities, has been around for almost 70 years with the goal of sending rural students to the nation’s capital to learn about government and rural electrification. In that time, nearly 100,000 students have gotten the chance to participate in this experience and witness where history is made.

In 1975, Knapp was given the opportunity to attend Youth Tour through Somerset Rural Electric Cooperative (REC). When his guidance counselor at Shade-Central City High School handed him the application, his first thoughts were that it would be “a good trip to spend a week, all paid, to learn about Washington, D.C., government and to meet a bunch of people from across the country.”

He was one of four students chosen from 12 applicants, something he felt “very fortunate about.”

Lobsters and learning

With such a long-running program, shifts and changes are bound to happen. However, one thing that has remained the same is that students still travel to D.C.

Knapp left the cooperative headquarters in Somerset for Breezewood, where he boarded a tour bus that eventually took him and his fellow Youth Tour students to the nation’s capital.

One thing that stuck out to him? Having lobster for the first time. Under the instruction to “order whatever you want,” Knapp and his peers chose to dine on lobster at Phillips Seafood House. He described the experience as “fun and enjoyable” — and that was just the beginning of his experiences in D.C.

“There were all kinds of mixers and events and dances,” he says. “I saw a lot of good in our nation’s capital: in things to do, places to go and things to see.”

At these events, Knapp met students from across the country, something he spoke quite highly about, noting that many different people from many different walks of life were there.

“You learned, though, that they weren’t that different,” he says. 

A camaraderie developed, Knapp says, and there was a sense that even though students differed in some ways, they were similar and united in others — another thing that hasn’t changed about Youth Tour.

Much like today’s Youth Tour, students in 1975 were given opportunities to explore the city and learn about the very
cooperatives that sent them there. Then and now, students are educated about the importance of cooperatives to our nation and how the federal government stepped in to help farmers and their neighbors take rural America out of the darkness.

“Rural electrification really helped to improve the lives of residents,” he says.

A defining fact about the 1975 Youth Tour is that it occurred before the age of cellphones. That meant students had no contact with their family back home during the week. Knapp found that helpful in connecting with others.

“You had to have face-to-face conversations,” he says.
 

Life after Youth Tour

Knapp has since applied the skills and lessons he learned during Youth Tour to his life, both professionally and personally.

After returning from Youth Tour, he entered his senior year of high school, and thus, his senior football season. Being the oldest of 10, he was told by his father that “if you are going to make a better life, you need to go get an education.” Knapp worked extremely hard for that, receiving scholarship offers from around the country before settling on the U.S. Military Academy, more commonly known as West Point.

When he graduated from West Point, he worked on getting his flight training, which then allowed him to fly reconnaissance and command the border pilots along the Iron Curtain as an Army Aviator. Knapp was also an Airborne Ranger and earned the Master Army Aviator distinction. From there, he became a flight instructor and later pursued a master’s degree and doctorate in chemistry from Penn State University. He then taught at West Point, his alma mater.

In 1994, Knapp was accepted into the U.S. Army’s Army Astronaut Program, a huge achievement considering only one officer is chosen each year. Joining the astronaut office’s development branch, he helped on significant projects, including the International Space Station’s microgravity science glove box; the alpha-magnetic spectrometer, which continues to fly on the space station today; the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope; and the testing of the space shuttle’s glass cockpit. He later became involved in the Unmanned Space Program, working on military planes and satellites.

Knapp says the benefits of Youth Tour didn’t stop when he left Washington. He used the knowledge he gained on the trip when he would visit the city and even when he lived there. A lesson about lobbying helped when he needed to secure federal funding for many programs, including development of a commercial downlink system.

 “It was an incredible exposure,” he says.

‘You’re part of this’

His message to students considering Youth Tour is one word: “Go,” he says. “It was an exceptional opportunity to learn the value of co-ops and the services they provide.”

Knapp gave the same advice to his own four children, three of whom also participated in Youth Tour. All of them are now in the military, with one being a major, two being captains, and one who just finished flight school.

As for Knapp, he’s come full circle. Now retired, he lives in Somerset County and is once again a member of Somerset REC, which for more than five decades has played an important role in his life.

“You’re not a customer, you’re a member” he says. “You’re part of this.”

And it all started with Youth Tour.