The 2017 LPEA scholarships, along with the John Voelker Memorial, Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Tri-State Generation and Transmission scholarships, have been awarded by La Plata Electric Association (LPEA).
Finlay Marshall, a 2017 graduate of Bayfield High School and Jenna Engelken, a 2017 graduate of Durango High School, have received the 33rd annual LPEA College Scholarships, two four-year scholarships (up to $7,000 annually or $28,000 total for tuition, books and fees). Engelken (daughter of Julie and Jim Engelken) will major in environmental engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Marshall (son of Brenda and Brian Marshall) is heading to Fort Lewis College to study engineering.
LPEA's 17th annual John Voelker Memorial Scholarships - $10,000 for two years for vocational, technical school or junior college - go to Carlos Solas Villalpando, a graduate of Durango High School, and Josiah Tessler, a graduate of Ignacio High School.
Solas Villalpando (son of Sara Villalpando Martinez and Humberto Solas Esparza) will attend San Juan College in Farmington to pursue a career in welding, while Tessler (son of Mary and Maynard Tessler) will also attend San Juan College to study diesel technology. LPEA's John Voelker Memorial Scholarship remembers former LPEA board member John Voelker, who was instrumental in creating the vocational scholarship. Voelker perished in the Egyptian Air plane crash in October 1999.
Emma Crowder, a graduate of Pagosa Springs High School, received the $1,000 Basin Electric Power Cooperative Scholarship. The daughter of Jenene and Phillip Crowder, she will attend the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
Two additional Pagosa Springs High School graduates - Noah Haarmann and Adeline Thompson - each received $500 scholarships from Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. Haarmann (son of Laura and Tim Haarmann) intends to pursue forestry and land management studies at Northern Arizona University. Thompson (daughter of Rebecca and Mark Thompson) will advance her education in political science at the University of Denver.
"There are so many qualified students, but we have only so many scholarships," said Jeannie Bennett, coordinator of LPEA's scholarship process. "All of our scholarship recipients are great students with exciting potential. At LPEA we are proud to be able to offer these educational opportunities."
Funds for the LPEA and John Voelker Memorial Scholarships come from LPEA's unclaimed Capital Credits. Each year, LPEA endeavors to find "missing" members who are due a share of retired Capital Credits or Patronage Capital. Those funds unable to be returned to members are then put back into the community - in this case, into college scholarships.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Tri-State Generation and Transmission grant the additional cash awards.
For further information or for questions regarding future scholarship opportunities, contact Jeannie Bennett at 382-3505, or jbennett@lpea.coop.
