Sangre de Cristo Electric Association Awards 17 Scholarships

Sangre de Cristo Electric Association, Inc., awarded 17 scholarships to students in central Colorado this spring.

High school, college and trade school students from Custer, Fremont, Chaffee, Lake and Saguache counties who are members of or dependents of SDCEA members are eligible to apply for the scholarships. Scholarships range from an annual $2,000 scholarship for four years, to one-time $1,000 scholarships awarded by SDCEA’s power suppliers Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association and Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

Thirty-eight applications were considered this year for one four-year scholarship at $2,000 per year and 13 scholarships for one year of $2,000 each. In addition, one $1,000 scholarship sponsored by Basin Electric and two $1,000 scholarships sponsored jointly by Tri-State and SDCEA were awarded.

A scholarship committee consisting of SDCEA directors and staff evaluated applications to determine awards. Each application is redacted for personal identifying information, reviewed independently by each member serving on the committee, then brought to the committee as a whole for decision-making. Those who serve on the scholarship committee are not related to students applying for awards.

Delilah Sander, Buena Vista High School, received the four-year scholarship at $2,000 a year.

Awarded one-year $2,000 scholarships were Abigail McNeal, Kali Carlson, and Chellis Richards, all of Cotopaxi High School; Maggie Hollenbeck, Andrew Limoncelli, Levi DeWalt, Matthew Thompson and Mirabelle Riley, all of Buena Vista High School; Jessica Henrich of Custer County High School; Joseph Nagle of Cheyenne Mountain High School; Hayden McGinnis, a Buena Vista High School graduate attending Chadron State College; and Caleb Richardson, a graduate of Salida High School attending Grove City College.

Matthew Linza, a BVHS graduate attending Colorado State University, was awarded a $2,000 employee dependent scholarship.

Two $1,000 scholarships sponsored jointly by Tri-State and SDCEA were awarded to Ellie Richardson and Ray-Ann Wilkins of Salida High School.

The committee awarded the $1,000 scholarship sponsored by Basin Electric to Breanna Frost of Cotopaxi High School.

Subject to the availability of funds, SDCEA may award scholarships each year to assist worthy students in attaining higher education. Application information is posted on SDCEA’s website, myelectric. coop, and made available to area high schools in the company’s service territory in the fall of each year.