Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) is proud to announce that 26 local students have been selected to receive college scholarships.

Twenty-two $5,000 scholarships have been awarded to graduating high school students and returning college students. This year, OTEC and Eastern Oregon University (EOU) partnered to launch a new scholarship, The OTEC-EOU Rural Scholarship Program, which pays all tuition and fees at Eastern Oregon University if the student commits to graduating from EOU. Four students were awarded this scholarship.

“We are very excited about this partnership between OTEC and Eastern Oregon University,” Les Penning, chief executive officer of OTEC, said. “By allocating four of our scholarships to this program and leveraging a matched investment from EOU, we can invest into our local communities directly, support local students, and return value to OTEC member-owners through the internship projects that the students will complete throughout their four years at EOU.”

Applicants for scholarships must be an active OTEC member in good standing with the cooperative or a dependent of such a member to be eligible for the scholarship. Scholarships are funded from interest earned on unclaimed capital credits.

“We congratulate all the 2020 scholarship recipients and are proud to reward the students for their academic success and dedication to their community,” Penning said. “As a not-for-profit cooperative, one of our guiding principles is “Commitment to Community,” and we can’t think of a better way to give back to the communities we serve and encourage local students to be involved in their own community.”

2020 OTEC Scholarship recipients

OTEC-EOU Rural Scholarship Program

Josie Bornstedt, La Grande High School; Emily Inselman, Burns High School; Andrew Lusco, Grant Union High School; Nathan Reed, La Grande High School.

OTEC $5,000 College Scholarship

Baker County: Graduating high school seniors: Guadalupe Macias, Baker High School; Sam McCauley, Baker High School; Isabelle Wachtel, Baker High School; Naomi Woodward, Baker High School.

Returning college students: Koedi Birmingham, Eastern Oregon University; Quinn Coomer, Corban University.

Grant County: Graduating high school seniors: Shaelynn Bice, Prairie City High School; Samantha Floyd, Grant Union High School.

Returning college students: Maggie Justice, Walla Walla University; Lindsey Webb, Montana State University.

Harney County: Graduating high school seniors: Jenna Garner, Burns High School; Ryan Robles, Burns High School.

Returning college students: Mary Letham, Dixie State University; Tea Recanzone, Boise State University.

Union County: Graduating high school seniors: Julie Chandler, La Grande High School; Lara Insko, La Grande High School; Brittany Robles Jimenez, La Grande High School; Keith Oswald, La Grande High School; Katie Perry, La Grande High School; Blaine Shaw, La Grande High School.

Returning college students: Alexandra Colton, Oregon State University; Cody Singer, Arizona State University.

Recipients of the trade school and lineman school scholarships will be announced in June.