NEWBERRY – Applications are now available for the Newberry-PMPA Community Scholar Scholarship. The City of Newberry will accept applications through March 26. The annual scholarship awards up to four qualifying high school seniors $500 towards their tuition to any South Carolina accredited university/college or technical college.
The Piedmont Municipal Power Agency (PMPA) is a joint action agency formed by 10 municipal electric utilities, including Newberry, in the northwest section of South Carolina. The agency provides wholesale electric service to its members primarily through a 25% ownership interest in Unit 2 of the Catawba Nuclear Station in York County, SC.
This will be the 14th year that the City of Newberry has been able to provide this scholarship to students through PMPA. In the previous 12 years, a total of 38 students have received the scholarship.
City of Newberry Utility Director Scott Motsinger said this scholarship gives interested students exposure to the career world of utilities and the opportunity to learn more about public power in their community.
“I’m excited that The City of Newberry and PMPA can offer this scholarship each year for students in our community,” Motsinger said. “We are excited to offer this scholarship again this year.”
Applicants must have attended at minimum, three years of high school or home-schooling within the city limits of Newberry, SC and obtained a high school degree. They must also have a legal guardian who is a current residential electric utility customer of the Newberry Utilities Department.
They must also demonstrate personal leadership as reflected in a leadership role related to academic, co-curricular organization and clubs, community or church service, athletics or other similar areas.
Interested applicants that meet the above qualifications need to submit their application along with a letter of recommendation from a non-relative to attest to their character. A copy of the student’s current high school transcript must also be included.
Full scholarship contest details have been sent to Newberry Academy, Newberry High School, Newberry College and Piedmont Technical College. A scholarship form can also be completed and downloaded from the City of Newberry’s website (www.cityofnewberry.com) by clicking on the Government tab, followed by Documents & Forms. The form will then be found under the Utilities dropdown under the Forms subfolder.
To receive the scholarship, applicants must attend a South Carolina accredited university, college or technical college and provide a letter of acceptance to that school.
The deadline for submissions to the City of Newberry is 5 p.m. March 26. A scholarship committee will select the winners of the scholarships. Each application will be assigned a “blind” designation, so the committee has no prior knowledge of who the applicant is for each submittal. As a result, city personnel and relatives are eligible to enter the contest.
In case of a tie, a personal interview may be requested of the finalists.
Winners of the scholarship will be announced in May. A first and second alternate may also be selected in the event a winner becomes ineligible. After winners have been chosen and a letter of acceptance from a South Carolina university, college or technical college has been provided, a check will be made payable to the school in the student’s name and credited to tuition.
Scholarship forms and more information are available on the City of Newberry’s website, www.cityofnewberry.com. A hard copy can also be picked up from Elyssa Haven at City Hall, 1330 College Street.
Applications can be submitted via email to ehaven@cityofnewberry.com, in person to Haven at City Hall, or mailed to Newberry – PMPA Community Scholarship, City of Newberry, P.O. Box 538 and made attention to Elyssa Haven. If mailed applications are postmarked by the due date they will be accepted.
Those submitted will not be considered complete until all pieces of the form, including transcripts, letter of recommendation, and test scores have been turned in.
Questions may be directed to Haven at 803-321-1000.