Scholarships / STEAM Grant Program

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Eastern Iowa REC supports education through scholarships and the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Grant Program. These initiatives provide financial assistance to students pursuing higher education and fund projects that enhance STEAM learning in schools.

26 Scholarships Are Awarded Each Year / STEAM Grants available for local schools

Scholarship Program

The Cooperative’s scholarship program includes the $2,500 “Bob Wiemerslage Memorial Scholarship” which is awarded to a student who plans to major in accounting. Wiemerslage was the Cooperative’s Division Manager of Accounting until his passing in 2019.

Twenty scholarship winners will receive a $2,500 award, four in each district, that can be used to help defray the costs of attending any accredited college or university.

Five $2,500 scholarships will be awarded to students planning to pursue a trade-related degree at a community college, technical school or power line school.

The Cooperative’s scholarship program is open to all high school seniors, whose parents or guardians are members of the Cooperative. This includes children of Cooperative directors and employees.

Students wishing to participate in the scholarship program are asked to submit an application form, letter of recommendation, high school transcript and a 250-word essay on the student's career goals and how the scholarship will help achieve them.

The deadline for the 2025 Eastern Iowa REC scholarship program has passed. Winners are announced in the May issue of the Cooperative newsletter, Current News.

STEAM Grant

Eastern Iowa REC values and supports education and training of the students within our service territory. The Cooperative understands that classrooms may have limited funding to pursue the projects needed to educate the young minds in our local communities. By embracing Cooperative Principle #5: Education, Training, and Information, we have established our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Grant program to provide funding for projects and initiatives at our local schools.

Funding is available for public, public charter, private, and home schools in our service area for classrooms with students K-12. The classroom project must be academically focused in the areas of science, technology, engineering, art, or math. The grant may be used to purchase equipment or curriculum materials and should be part of a well-planned and integrated project or activity. Instructors may apply for a STEAM grant up to $500 per school district, per academic year. Home schools are allowed to receive up to $100 per home school, per academic year. One grant per academic year is available for each school distirct. Contact the Cooperative to determine if your district has grant funds available.

Funds for the STEAM grants come from unclaimed patronage funds and does not affect the Cooperative’s rates. Eastern Iowa REC STEAM Grants are available for schools serving students who live within the Cooperative’s service territory. A map of the Eastern Iowa REC service territory can be found here...

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Examples of projects that would NOT be considered for funding: travel expenses, field trips, guest speakers, entry fees, t-shirts or other promotional items/prizes, and meals.

Applications will be reviewed by the Cooperative to ensure they meet the qualifications before any grants are distributed.

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For more information, please contact Jim Williams, communications director, jim.williams@easterniowa.com.