Eighteen high school seniors from throughout southeast Arizona were awarded $1,000 scholarships last Thursday from Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative.

Local winners in the cooperative’s eighth annual scholarship program include Lyndsey Osterman and Amanda Seay from Willcox High School; Tiffany Lewis and Amber Morin from San Simon High School; and Jordan Landwerlen and Hesli Quihui from Valley Union High School.

The scholarships are worth $1,000 each and recognize extracurricular school activities and community involvement as well as academic achievement.

SSVEC Board President Gene Manning presented the students with award certificates during the cooperative’s 70th annual meeting on April 24 at the Benson High School Gymnasium in Benson.

Board Secretary Curtis Nolan explained the purpose and eligibility of the scholarship program.

“The cooperative’s board of directors began the scholarship program in 2001 to assist local students with the first year of their formal education,” he said.

“To be eligible for the scholarship, a student must be a graduating senior and enroll full time in the fall in a college, university, or trade school,” Nolan said. “In addition, the applicant must be in the upper-20 percent of his class or in the top 10 students (whichever is greater), and the student’s parents or guardians must be members of SSVEC.”

Cooperative members who served on the selection committee this year were Joe Walker, principal of Lighthouse Academy in Willcox; Louise Sirois, branch manager of the Sunsites Community Library; Shelley Michaels, guidance counselor at Bonita Elementary School; and Charlotte Brown, retired, a community volunteer from Elgin.

The SSVEC Foundation, an educational and charitable foundation, funds the scholarship program.

Each year the cooperative advertises unclaimed patronage capital credits. If the owners of the unclaimed funds cannot be found, the money is transferred to the SSVEC Foundation.

The foundation also funds the cooperative’s Washington Youth Tour program and the Youth Engineering and Science Fair.

Other scholarship winners from throughout Southeast Arizona included Megan Ellsworth and Devon Sanders from Benson High School; Megan Bluth and Deidre Hancock from St. David High School; Teena Mecucci and Patricia Meadows from Buena High School; Kate Arnett and Daniel Pendry from Tombstone High School; Nash Finley and Samantha Garcia from Patagonia High School; Jesse Gunsch, a homeschooled student; and Caitlin Roddey from Christian Liberty Academy School System.