WCEC Awards $18,000 to East Texas Students

A panel of 3 independent judges recently awarded $18,000 in scholarships as part of Wood County Electric Cooperative’s (WCEC) “Power My World” program. Ten local high school students, residing within WCEC’s 9-county service area, will each receive a $1,500 scholarship towards a college education, and three students will receive $1,000 towards tuition for a trade/vocational certificate path. The program is funded entirely by unclaimed capital credit payments returned to WCEC by the state and does not come from WCEC’s operating budget.

The independent judges were comprised of three WCEC members: John Arbter of Golden, David Dobbs of Quitman and Susan Ukleja of Yantis. These judges used various criteria to down-select the thirteen, who were chosen from forty-two qualified applicants. Each judge was tasked with reviewing the submissions, accompanying academic records and lists of civic and community achievements. Additionally, each student was required to submit an essay, which was read by each judge.

Based on their exceptional work and achievements, the ten 2022 Power My World $1,500 college scholarship recipients are: Jase Melton, Grand Saline ISD; Jack Heard and Sunni Ruffin, Mineola ISD; Lauren Newsome, Mount Vernon ISD; Brooklyn Marcee, Quitman ISD; Madison Batie, Van ISD; Presley Blair, Rance Brown, Canaan Swanner and Dawson Tinney, Winnsboro ISD.

The deserving $1,000 VOTEC scholarship winners are: Blake Weissert, Alba-Golden ISD, Samuel Currey, Grand Saline ISD; Avery von Reyn, Quitman ISD; and.

Of those selected, WCEC CEO/General Manager Trey Teaff said, “Congratulations to each of these students on their achievements. Based on the outstanding field of candidates, I know our judges had a challenging time of selecting the scholarship winners. I can’t wait to see how each of them will excel as they move forward.”