Cooperative Scholarships

Each year Northern Electric Cooperative and Basin Electric Power Cooperative provide a $500 and a $1,000 scholarship respectively. The selection of the winners is based on SAT/ACT scores, grade point average, an application outlining high school/college honors, community and school activities, employment history, future career goals, a short essay focused on an electricity or cooperative theme and a written recommendation by a third party. The 2021 scholarship application can be downloaded by clicking this link or the button below.

The deadline to submit all scholarship applications to the Northern Electric office is February 14, 2020.

Completed applications should be mailed to:

Northern Electric Cooperative

ATTN: Kay Albrecht

PO Box 457

Bath, SD 57427

Applications can also be dropped off at the Northern Electric Cooperative office on U.S. Highway 12 in Bath, SD, by the deadline.

To find the location of the Northern Electric office follow this link.

2020 Scholarship Winners

Christine Stoltenberg ($1,000)

Christine Stoltenberg is from Stratford and ranked number one in her class at Northwestern High School. She was also a four-year participant in volleyball, basketball, track, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Future Farmers of America (FFA), student government, science bowl, and the BEST robotics team. Stoltenberg was the 2020 student body president and the president of the Northwestern FFA chapter.

Stoltenberg is pursuing an accounting degree at Northern State University.

“This scholarship will allow me to pursue a major in accounting and a minor in agribusiness,” Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg would also like to pursue a master’s degree and become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). After she graduates, she wants to stay close to home and begin her career.

“My current career goal is to become an accountant in the Aberdeen area,” Stoltenberg said. “I would like to work with local farmers and ranchers to help them optimize their operation’s finances.”

Matthew Sperry ($500)

Matthew Sperry of Bath is enrolled at South Dakota State University and is pursuing two majors in precision agriculture, and agronomy and soil science. Sperry is also pursuing a minor in agricultural business. He currently has a 4.0 grade-point average at SDSU and is involved in nine different collegiate organizations. He serves as the secretary of the SDSU Agronomy Club and he is the fundraising/points director of the Golden Key International Honor Society. Sperry is also an adult leader for Brown County 4-H and was one of two winners in the 4-H Farmfluencer video contest in 2019.

“This scholarship will enable me to continue my college education and achieve my career goal of becoming an efficient, productive, and profitable steward of the land,” Sperry said.

Sperry plans on moving back to his family’s farm near Bath when he graduates from SDSU. He plans to use his degree in precision agriculture to infuse technology into the family farming operation.

“Technology in agriculture is the future and my goal is to be a part of it, not for my sake, but for the responsibility of feeding an ever-growing worldwide population,” Sperry said.