Todd Peterson, of Sabina, has been named one of the recipients of the annual Sunrise Cooperative college scholarships.
This year, Sunrise offered 40 $1,000 scholarships for common stockholders’ children and grandchildren and 10 $1,000 scholarships for employees’ children and grandchildren. A total of 341 students entered to compete for the 40 common stockholder scholarships, while 18 competed for the 10 employee scholarships.
All students awarded are or will be enrolled in a two- or four-year college program. Over the past nine years, Sunrise has awarded more than $150,000 in scholarships and is excited to continue the program this year.
Peterson is graduating from Miami Trace High School and will attend Ohio State University to pursue a degree in ag business. His eligibility comes from his father, stockholder Bob Peterson.
Applicants were required to compete in a scholarship essay contest, writing a minimum of one page on the topic of agriculture. Essays ranged from describing the use of various technologies on the farm to the importance of agriculture in our growing world. Although the essay topic was agriculture-focused, the contest was open to students of any degree so long as they or a family member (parent or grandparent) is a member or employee of Sunrise Cooperative.
Terra Community College in Fremont reviewed the written entries and narrowed them down to 69 finalists for the common stockholder scholarship and 12 finalists for the employee scholarship. Each finalist was invited to an interview to discuss his or her interest in agriculture and future education plans. From these interviews, 40 students were chosen for the common stockholder scholarships and 10 were selected for the employee scholarship.
“At Sunrise we make it a point to be involved in the community and show our support in any way we can, and awarding some of our local youth with scholarships is one way for us to be directly involved,” said George Secor, president and CEO of Sunrise Cooperative. “It is important for businesses like ours to be truly invested in helping our youth in their pursuit of further education.”
Sunrise Cooperative is a full-service, 100 percent farmer-owned cooperative located in northwest and southwest Ohio. Serving approximately 7,000 members-owners, it operates multiple agronomy, grain, energy and feed locations. It is dedicated to helping its members achieve success.
