Scholarships Empower the Pursuit of Dreams

by Rita-Lyn Sanders, Director of Marketing and Communication

GRAND JUNCTION, COLO. - (January 6, 2025)  One of the most celebration-worthy things we do at Grand Valley Power is award scholarships to students who endeavor to continue their education beyond high school. The care that we devote to our community is one of the things that I appreciate most about our cooperative principles. The money that funds the scholarships is sourced from unclaimed CashBack Credits. It’s board policy to use unclaimed credits for education and to do good in our community. By helping people advance their education, we are propping up their confidence to be a positive force. By contributing to their future, we are ensuring that our world, our community, will be a better place.

Grand Valley Power is gearing up to award $22,000 in scholarships for the 2025-26 academic year to students living in our service territory. Applying online is easy, and applications are due March 1. Students have a little extra time – until June 1 – to apply for the Electric Lineworker scholarship and can live anywhere in Mesa County.

Grand Valley Power offers a portfolio of 10 scholarships. It has been a few years since the cooperative has expanded the program, but we have done so this year to honor our colleague and former Chief Operating Officer, Matt Williams. The Matt Williams STEM scholarship is $1,500 per year, renewable for up to four years at any university.

Students who work toward a four-year degree at Colorado Mesa University should apply for our Jack Broughton – Colorado Mesa University scholarship (also renewable). If you will attend another university or trade program or want to earn a technical certificate, consider our GVP or CMU Tech awards, including the Electric Lineworker scholarship.

To understand the ripple effect that scholarships have across lives, we could stop on any point in GVP’s scholarship program since it began in 1996. It took a little investigating (and some patient Internet searching) to track down a few recipients, but we did and want to share how they are using their lives to positively impact others.

REBEKAH SHAW: 2018 JACK BROUGHTON – CMU SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT

Rebekah (Nordstrom) Shaw graduated from Mesa Valley Community School in 2018. She received the Jack Broughton – Colorado Mesa University Scholarship and earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She is a registered nurse on the medical oncology floor at St. Mary’s Hospital. “The thing I appreciate most about my work is the people that I get to meet,” Shaw said. “There have been so many patients over the years who have touched my heart deeply, and I love being able to be a bright spot in a very dark time for a lot of the people. I love coming home at the end of a shift and knowing I made a real difference in someone's day and maybe even their life.”

The financial support that Shaw received from Grand Valley Power enabled her to study hard and focus on her education. She completed her degree free of student loan debt. “The reason I made it through my nursing program is because of the financial help I received. Having the burden of financial stress could have really held me back from completing the nursing program, which is known for being competitive and challenging.”

Shaw said she felt overwhelmed with gratitude at the annual meeting where she received recognition. “I felt a strong sense of responsibility that night to make the most of this special opportunity by devoting myself to my studies in nursing.” She recommends students have a plan for what kind of education they want to pursue after high school and why, “and then, just do it.”

CALEB MONGER: 2010 WCCC ELECTRIC LINEWORKER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT

Caleb Monger graduated from Fruita Monument High School in 2002 and ventured into construction work. He liked working outside and the physical activity that the job required. But in 2008 the economy changed, and construction jobs were more difficult to come by. The work was inconsistent. Monger wanted something stable.

Through his network of friends, Monger learned about electrical linework and the certification program at (then) Western Colorado Community College (WCCC). He also learned about a new scholarship offered by Grand Valley Power that would provide financial assistance for the WCCC certificate. Monger figured he didn’t have anything to lose and applied for the scholarship. In 2010, GVP awarded the first Electrical Lineworker Scholarship to Monger. He very appreciatively used the funds to buy the required climbing tools and safety gear that lineworkers use on the job. Monger successfully completed the program and found work with a contractor in the Craig and Steamboat Springs areas.

A few years later in 2020, Monger returned home to work at Grand Valley Power. “I like everything about the job,” he said. “The climbing and bucket work are fun, but the best part is knowing that I’m providing a critical service to the community where I grew up.”

CONNOR JANDREAU: 2007 GRAND VALLEY POWER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT

Connor Jandreau graduated from Plateau Valley High School in 2007. He received one of two renewable scholarships that Grand Valley Power awarded that year to college-bound students. After five years at Colorado State University earning double majors in Studio Art and Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Jandreau received a Fulbright Scholarship for a master’s degree at the University of Manitoba in Canada. He studied the impacts of private conservation on the communities surrounding the unfenced Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya on the continent of Africa. In his current role, Jandreau is the conservation coordinator for the California Central Coast Joint Venture. The organization partners with Indigenous communities, universities, and other landowners in the central coastal region of California to help strengthen the resilience of migratory birds across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

With his mother and father both working in the natural sciences, Jandreau said the familial exposure left him no doubt that he would pursue something in the wildlife field. His success in finding the scholarships that allowed him to graduate debt free, he said, came down to sleuthing. “There are so many local, regional, state and national opportunities,” he said. “First and foremost dig up all the opportunities out there. Work with your academic advisor and teachers. They are helpful in uncovering scholarships.”

Jandreau remembers the groundswell of emotion brought on by scholarship awards. “Transitioning from a tiny class of 25 students to a university with 30,000 and being selected for the GVP Scholarship, I was assured that my future was ahead of me. It helped generate that feeling of confidence and encouragement to pursue my dreams with the best of intentions.”