No Title 2432

Supplement to “Learning How Co-ops Compete”

High school juniors interested in participating in their local American Private Enterprise System (APES) seminars should contact their local Cooperative Extension Service for enrollment guidelines. High school guidance counselors may also have information about the APES program. Some counties ask the high school guidance counselors to select APES students. Each county has their own guidelines for determining which students attend the local seminar, but in most cases it is restricted to the junior level and participation is limited.

What happens after you become an APE?
The Kentucky Youth Seminar (KYS), the second phase of the program, allows students to earn college scholarships by competing in group exercises and individual tests. Students who qualify to attend KYS will travel with their county Cooperative Extension agent and usually one other adult chaperone to Lexington. Lodging for this three-day seminar will be at one of the University of Kentucky dormitories. This is a great opportunity for students to get their first taste of campus life while under adult supervision.

Then you go to NICE
The third phase of APES is the National Institute on Cooperative Education (NICE). Transportation to and from the conference is provided by the University of Kentucky and is an all-expense-paid trip for qualifying students. The NICE conference allows students to meet and establish relationships with other high school students from across the United States. The NICE conference is held at various universities each year throughout the United States.

For more information on APES, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service.

For more information on KYS, go online to www.ca.uky.edu/agecon/index.php?p=662.

For more information on NICE, go online to www.tennesseecouncilofcoops.org/2009NICEconf/overview.html.

To read the Kentucky Living October 2010 feature that goes along with this supplement, go to Learning How Co-ops Compete.