Scholarships & Youth Programs

Check out the variety of programs and scholarships offered by Great lakes Energy.

Youth Tour

youth tour

Are you a high school sophomore or junior? Are your parents/guardians members of Great Lakes Energy? Youth Tour provides a free once-in-a-lifetime learning and leadership experience attended by students from electric cooperatives all over the country.

In 2024, Great Lakes Energy will send four students, from June 18-23, to Washington, D.C. to participate in our Rural Electric Youth Tour!

Visit cooperativeyouthtour.com to learn more about the program.

Highlights of the trip include:

  • A bus tour to Washington, D.C., with stops along the way at historic locations;
  • Networking opportunities in Washington with around 2,000 other students from co-ops across the nation;
  • Tours of historical landmarks in Washington;
  • The chance to be appointed to Youth Leadership Council, a consortium elected by fellow Youth Tour students to serve for a year as national representatives of electric co-ops.

Online Applications

for Youth Tour 2025 open in December 2024.

For additional information, please contact Whitney Gilland at [email protected], or 888-485-2537, ext. 1334.

GLE Scholarships

Great Lakes Energy is proud to offer scholarship opportunities for students pursuing careers in electrical linework, electrical engineering, and information technology.  

The lineworker program scholarship, which was previously funneled through Alpena Community College and Northwest Lineman College, has been expanded to include eligibility for any accredited lineworker program in Michigan. Up to six $1,000 lineworker program scholarships will be awarded annually.

For students seeking degrees in electrical engineering or in information technology, two $2,500 scholarships are available for each of these two areas of study.

The scholarships are available for residents of Michigan who have a GPA of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale and are enrolled or planning to enroll in an accredited program for the upcoming school year or program term. We closed the 2023-24 school year application period with $14,000 in scholarships awarded.

Scholarship eligibility requirements are included on the applications, which are available here:

Scholarship applications for the 2024-25 school year are due by March 31, 2024.

For more information contact:
GLE Human Resources Manager
(231) 485-2547, Ext. 8478
[email protected]

line workers on a telephone pole

Safety Demonstrations

Great Lakes Energy offers its free safety demonstration program to bring important electrical safety information to its members and to service organizations in areas where GLE members live. The safety demonstration features a tabletop display for indoor student and youth presentations.

Availability

To request a free demonstration, fill out the form below. We will contact you with an available date.

Request a Safety Demonstration

Eligible groups include schools and youth organizations (Scouts, youth camps, etc.), within Great Lakes Energy’s service area.

SCHOOLS AND YOUTH GROUPS: We will bring an indoor tabletop display to your location.

Large groups may require multiple presentations
Please list 3 to 5 specific options. Dates are limited from April – October.

Classroom Grants

School districts in the Great Lakes Energy service area that educate children of GLE members can receive a grant of up to $2,000 to fund innovative programs, particularly those involving technology or equipment that enrich students’ education. Preference will be given to projects that involve technology, equipment or materials that can be used more than once, enhance learning, are not currently being funded through the school’s budget, and are likely to be fresh and exciting to students. The project does not have to involve the study of electricity.

Teachers and administrators of public or private K-12 schools may apply. Multiple projects within the same school district can be combined to a maximum award per district of $2,000 per year. 

Grants awarded for the 2023-2024 school year bring the total to just over $302,700 for 204 projects since GLE launched its classroom grant program in 2012. Great Lakes Energy will award up to $30,000 total in grants for the 2024-2025 school year.

Online Applications

for the 2024-2025 school year open in September 2024.

For additional information, please contact Whitney Gilland at [email protected], or 888-485-2537, ext. 1334.

These schools received classroom grants for the 2023-2024 school year:

  • Tri County Middle School, Howard City, $2,000 for VR devices.
  • Central Elementary, Petoskey, $1,854 for Sphero littleBits.
  • Patricia St. Clair Elementary, Hesperia, $1,200 for a 3D printer.
  • Grant Elementary and Grant Primary, Grant, $500 for a light table.
  • Shelby Middle School, Shelby, $1,677.82 for 3D printing course supplementation.
  • Ludington Elementary, Ludington, $1,517.76 for PowerUp electric paper airplanes.
  • Otsego Christian School, Gaylord, $2,000 for iPads.
  • Grayling High School, Grayling, $1,992.16 for robotics materials.
  • Ludington Elementary, Ludington, $474 for wind-powered cars.
  • White Cloud Elementary School, White Cloud, $1,854.88 for STEM materials and a mobile STEM station.
  • Harbor Light Christian School, Harbor Springs, $1,914 for an interactive projector.
  • Big Rapids Middle School, Big Rapids, $1,500 for robotics materials.
  • Boyne City Public Schools, Boyne City, $2,000 for a 3D printer.
  • Reed City High School, Reed City, $1,806.90 for Limelight vision cameras and material.
  • Pine River Middle School, Pine River, $1,916 for Finch robots.
  • Pellston Public School, Pellston, $1,802.67 for Osmo learning kits.
  • Boyne Falls Public School, Boyne Falls, $1,976.69 Sphero littleBits.
  • McBain Middle School, McBain, $2,000 for Ozobots kit.
  • Public or private schools that have children of Great Lakes Energy members enrolled may apply for a classroom grant. The school or school district does not need to have electricity supplied by Great Lakes Energy.
  • If your district is very near or within the shaded areas on the map below, you are eligible to apply. Schools far from the shaded area will most likely not be eligible. Contact us with questions.
  • Each separate school within a school district may apply for a grant; however, multiple schools within a school district will be limited to a collective total of $2,000 for this grant cycle. Please note that your request can be for less than $2,000.
  • We serve areas in these 26 counties: Allegan, Antrim, Barry, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Clare, Crawford, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Kent, Lake, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Missaukee, Montcalm, Montmorency, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola, Oscoda, Ottawa, Otsego, Wexford.

    Please note: We serve limited areas in each of these counties, so your school district or specific schools within your district may not be eligible. Review the map below for coverage areas and contact us if you have a question.

  • Describe the proposed project/program. What purpose would it accomplish? How will it use technology in an innovative, educational way?
  • What is the estimated cost of the project/program?
  • Are outside funds needed?
  • Please attach supporting documents such as an itemized list, if appropriate.
  • Who and how many would benefit from this project/program?
  • How many students are in your school?
  • Explain how the program will meet the objectives/goals of the grant program?
  • How long would the project/program be able to benefit the students?
  • Will this project/program have a community impact?
  • Promotes innovation in the classroom
  • Will enrich students’ learning experience
  • Impacts a significant number of students at the school
  • Establishes potential for long-term benefit to the student body
  • Includes measurable indicators of success
  • Clarity of the application

Grant Application

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