San Luis Valley REC makes secondary education a priority when giving back to the Valley. With just over $210,000 given in the past five years, REC annually awards up to 12 scholarships to local students.
The awards are primarily reserved for REC members, although one of the scholarships is available to other Valley students as well.
The SLV REC Adams State University Four-Year Scholarship is renewable for up to a maximum of four years. The value of the scholarship equals the total of in-state tuition, some fees and a book allowance for the award year.
In addition to the four-year scholarship, REC awards the Martin Christensen Electric Lineworker Scholarship, which may be used at any accredited lineworker school. The value of the scholarship is currently $5,500 and may be used to cover tuition costs, required textbooks or minimal basic tools for the program. Although first consideration will be given to graduating high school seniors, this scholarship is open to all individuals.
Other scholarships include the following:
The $4,000 Robert Wolfe Scholarship was established for students furthering their education in an agricultural or engineering field and may be used at any trade school, college or university.
The $4,000 Mike Rierson Scholarship, new in 2023, can be used toward further education at any trade school, college or university.
REC also offers the SLV REC Past Director Scholarship and the SLVREC Past Retired GM Ray Villyard & CEO John Villyard Scholarship, both of which are valued at $1,000/each.
In addition, six Tri-State G&T Scholar-ships are offered at $500 each.
Dependents of employees and directors of SLVREC are eligible for one of these scholarships, as are members.
For full requirements and details, see the scholarship application online at https://slvrec.com/scholarships
Anthony Lewis, 2018 four-year ASU scholarship winner, graduated in May 2022 with his BS degree in Kinesiology: Exercise Science. He commented, “thank you for giving me this generous scholarship; it definitely helped tremendously.”