Credit union awards $25,000 in scholarships to C.O. students
EUGENE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- SELCO Community Credit Union celebrated its 30th year of its annual scholarship program by awarding $50,000 in college scholarships to 20 graduating high school seniors throughout Oregon, including 10 students from Central Oregon.
Each scholarship recipient will receive $2,500 to use toward college-related expenses.
SELCO started its scholarship program in 1991 as an important component to its mission to aid member-owners in achieving their financial and educational goals. In the past five years alone, SELCO has awarded nearly $200,000 in scholarships through this program.
This year’s scholarships will be awarded on Friday, June 12 at 2 p.m. via SELCO’s virtual scholarship ceremony, which will be hosted live on Instagram (@selcoccu) and replaces SELCO’s traditional scholarship luncheon.
“This year’s graduating seniors are facing unprecedented obstacles, and for that reason we are truly thankful that we are able to help this impressive group of students,” said Craig Carpenter, SELCO’s senior vice president of lending and business solutions.
“Since teachers founded the credit union more than 80 years ago, SELCO has embraced education as a core tenet to its mission of improving the financial health of all its members. The importance of that mission is growing as the needs of our member-owners have increased during this most challenging time.”
SELCO’s Scholarship Committee chose the recipients from applicants representing all 27 Oregon counties that SELCO serves. To qualify, recipients had to be graduating from a four-year accredited high school in Oregon, have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5, and plan to attend an accredited two- or four-year college or university.
In addition, every applicant was asked to submit an essay that answers the question: “You get to spend the next year of your life in either the past or the future. What year would you travel to, and how would you use what you learned upon your return?”
Central Oregon’s 2019-20 SELCO Scholarship recipients are:
- Alexandria Chastain - Ridgeview High School, Redmond
- Cassidy Cummings - La Pine High School, La Pine
- Katie Elliott - Elliott Family Home School, Redmond
- Shannon Hoyer - Mountain View High School, Bend
- Casey Johnson - Central Christian School, Redmond
- Sarah Kilroy - Redmond Proficiency Academy, Redmond
- Jevan La Marche - Summit High School, Bend
- Cody Pickett - Mountain View High School, Bend
- Sydney Pickett - Mountain View High School, Bend
- Isabelle Wynne - Central Christian School, Redmond
For a complete list of the 2019–20 SELCO Scholarship recipients, including photos, visit selco.org/scholarship-recipients-2020.
