Columbia REA Awards College Scholarships

WALLA WALLA–Columbia REA has awarded three post high school academic scholarships to local high school seniors. This is the 21st year of Columbia REA’s scholarship program.

Columbia Rural Electric Association established a four-year scholarship program which began funding three scholarships in 1999. The first of those scholarships is in the annual amount of $1,500 and the other two are in the annual amount of $1,000. Each scholarship is renewable for four consecutive years.

Ethan Haugen will receive the Clark A. Brewington Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship, for $1,500 each year, honors former Columbia REA manager Clark A. Brewington who passed away in 1997. Haugen is a senior at DeSales Catholic High School who plans to study finance in college. He is the son of Mark and Kelli Haugen of Walla Walla.

The other two winners are Noah Beechinor, also a senior at DeSales, who plans to study Agricultural Technology and Management at Washington State University; and Madison Case, a senior at Walla Walla High School, who will attend Montana State University, where she will pursue a career in Biology and Public Health Administration.

To apply for the scholarships, students were required to write an essay, submit school transcripts and SAT or ACT scores, describe their school and community activities and achievements, and provide at least two letters of reference. Only members of the cooperative and their dependents are eligible to apply.

The applications were evaluated by a committee comprised of Columbia REA member volunteers.

“The evaluation committee does a tremendous job” said Columbia REA CEO Scott Peters. “Selecting the recipients of these scholarship funds is never easy, it is a lot of work, and we are very grateful for the committee’s dedication.”

“All of the applicants are very impressive young people. We would like to thank each and every one of them for applying, and we wish them all the best.”