Scholarships & Youth Programs
Check out the variety of programs and scholarships offered by Great lakes Energy.
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 2023, Great Lakes Energy will send four students, from June 14-18, to Washington, D.C. to participate in our first Rural Electric Youth Tour in more than two years!
Please note: The application deadline for this year’s trip has passed. Check back in early 2024 for information on applications for next year’s trip. 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.
If you have questions, please email [email protected] or call 888-485-2537, ext. 8957.
GLE Scholarships
Great Lakes Energy is proud to offer scholarship opportunities for students pursuing careers in electrical linework, electrical engineering, and information technology. Â
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 scholarships will be awarded annually.
Scholarships are also available 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 2022-23 school year application period with $16,000 in scholarships awarded.
Scholarship eligibility requirements are included on the applications which are available here:
- Electrical engineering / information technology scholarship application
- Lineworker program scholarship application
The application submission deadline for 2023 has passed. Check back in early 2024 for information on next year’s scholarship opportunities.
For more information contact:
GLE Human Resources Manager
(231) 487-1325
[email protected]
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.
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.Â
Grants awarded for the 2022-2023 school year bring the total to just over $272,800 for 186 projects since GLE launched its classroom grant program in 2012. Great Lakes Energy will award up to $30,000 total in grants for the 2023-2024 school year.
Online Applications
for the 2023-2024 school year open in September 2023.
For additional information, please contact Whitney Gilland at [email protected], or 888-485-2537, ext. 1334.
These schools received classroom grants for the 2022-2023 school year:
- Allendale Christian School, Allendale, $2,000 for weather station.
- Delton Kellogg High School, Delton, $1,927.13 for canon cameras.
- East Jordan Elementary School, East Jordan, $1,450 for project-based solar energy lessons.
- Ellsworth Community School, Ellsworth, $2,000 for dynamic cart and track system.
- Forest Area Middle/High School, Fife Lake, $1,889.83 for sound system.
- Harbor Springs High School, Harbor Springs, $1,699 for underwater remote-operated vehicles.
- Lincoln Elementary, Cadillac, $2,000 for STEM kits.
- Ludington Elementary School, Ludington, $1,800 for Sphero indi robots.
- Mason County Central Schools District, Scottville, $1,738.99 for drone and 360 camera.
- Oakridge Middle School, Muskegon, $1,986 for robotics equipment.
- Patricia St. Clair Elementary, Hesperia, $1,335 for iPad, stand, and hands-on material.
- Riverview Elementary School, Big Rapids, $2,000 Little Bits STEAM sets.
- Shelby Middle School, Shelby, $2,000 for exploratory class manufacturing technology and careers.
- South Maple Elementary, Gaylord, $1,103 for light tables.
- South Maple Elementary, Gaylord, $896.27 for circuit boards.
- Steeby Elementary, Wayland, $400 for Cricut Maker machine.
- Thornapple Kellogg High School, Middleville, $1,598.73 for photography enhancement equipment.
- Wolverine Elementary, Wolverine, $2,000 for smartboard.
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
