About the Program
Each year, the Foundation for Rural Education and Development awards scholarships to rural America's most accomplished and intelligent students. Scholarships range from $1,000 to $5,000 and are funded by the FRED Scholarship Endowment and by donations to the FRED Annual Giving Campaign. The Everette Kneece Return to Rural America Scholarship honors Mr. Kneece's vital and pioneering efforts on behalf of FRED and is awarded in the amount of $5,000 to the year's top applicant. An estimated $75,000 will be awarded in 2010.

To apply for any FRED Scholarship students must live in or attend school in an OPASTCO member's service area. To find out if you are in the service area of an OPASTCO member contact your local telephone company.

A sample Telco letter of nomination, sample financial statement I or a second sample financial statement II are also available. Applications are mailed to telephone companies in mid-October. A sample application can be viewed here.

In 2010, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of the OPASTCO membership during the FRED Annual Giving Campaign and FRED Taxes Donors, a total of $75,000 was awarded to 63 new scholarship recipients. The Foundation for Rural Education and Development is pleased to present the 2010 class of FRED scholars. Congratulations to all the winners!

A sample press release can be found here for the nominating telephone companies.

The check request form which needs to be submitted by the winning applicants, can be found here.

2010 Scholarship Recipients

Everette Kneece Return to Rural America Scholarship- $5,000
Paxton Maddox
Nominated by Panhandle Telephone Cooperative

FRED General Scholarship- $3,000
Morgan Turner
Nominated by Park Region Mutual Telephone Company

J. Benedict Ackley Scholarship- $2,000 per year for 4 years
Cassandra Lloyd
Nominated by The Middleburgh Telephone Company

FRED General Scholarship- $2,000
Ashleigh Lord
Nominated by Champlain Telephone Company

Sara Phillips-Keeble
Nominated by Ronan Telephone Company

Elaine Eck
Nominated by South Central Telephone Association

Leanna Streit
Nominated by Wilson Telephone Company

FRED General Scholarship- $1,500
Kayla Mathiowetz
Nominated by MinnesotaValley Telephone Comnpany

Alissa Yoder
Nominated by Moultrie Telephone Company

Internship Scholarships- $1,000
Leon Yard
Nominated by Comporium

D. Blake Overland
Nominated by Pottawatomie Telephone Company

Associate Member Scholarship- $1,000
Tarak Amin
Nominated by FairPoint Carrier Services

FRED General Scholarships- $1,000
Heather Beckius
Nominated by Albany Mutual Telephone Association

Ryan Henderson
Nominated by Armstrong Telephone Company of Pennsylvania

Breanna Roque
Nominated by Calaveras Telephone Company

Rebekah Willis
Nominated by Canadian Valley Telephone Company

Hannah Holland
Nominated by Central Oklahoma Telephone Company

Eric Asbe
Nominated by Clear Lake Independent Telephone Company

Tanner Whitlock
Nominated by Dubois Telephone Exchange, Inc.

Josie Weiler
Nominated by Enhanced Communications Corporation

Spencer Light
Nominated by EPIC Touch Co.

Lauren Schaefer
Nominated by Farmers Mutual Telephone d/b/a Omnitel Communications

Joshua Keith
Nominated by Gorham Telephone Company

Kelly Glynn
Nominated by GraniteState Telephone

Alexander Morrill
Nominated by Great Plains Communications, Inc.

Kylee Sexton
Nominated by Hamilton Communications

Shaylea Hinojosa
Nominated by Hemingford Cooperative Telephone Company

Abbey Kelto
Nominated by Hiawatha Telephone Company

Jaime Parkinson
Nominated by Hickory Tech Corporation

Michael Brown
Nominated by Holway Telephone Company

Elizabeth Peuchen
Nominated by Home Telephone (KS)

Hanna Lump
Nominated by Horizon Chillicothe Telephone

Spencer Ozbolt
Nominated by Inland Telephone Company

Megan Kingery
Nominated by Jefferson Telephone Company

Courtney Enright
Nominated by Ketchikan Public Utilities

Anna Urban
Nominated by Loretto Telephone Company

Amy Gobrogge
Nominated by McClure Telephone Company

Kimberly Kohorst
Nominated by Melrose Telephone Company

Jacob Beccraft
Nominated by Metamora Telephone Company

Melanie Junge
Nominated by The Middleburgh Telephone Company

Christian Baker
Nominated by Millry Telephone Company

Lia Heers
Nominated by Nortex Communications

Anne Schmaltz
Nominated by North Dakota Telephone Company

Janele Linna
Nominated by Ontonagon County Telephone Company

Michelle Ocampo
Nominated by Otelco, Hopper Communications

Dylan Arens
Nominated by Pierce Telephone Company, Inc.

Jason Ni
Nominated by Plant Telecommunications

Andreia Leininger
Nominated by Pioneer Communications

Mia Raulston
Nominated by Ritter Communications Inc.

Ciara Armstrong
Nominated by Rock Port Telephone Company

Kyle Abbott
Nominated by Rural Telephone Service Company

Kyle Treasure
Nominated by Silver Star Communications

Cassandra Slayton
Nominated by Sierra Telephone

Erin Ziolkowski
Nominated by Solarus

Ira Kuenzli
Nominated by Sycamore Telephone Company

Hubert Clark
Nominated by TDS Telecom

Echo Bartos
Nominated by ThreeRiver Telco

Tiffany Tornow
Nominated by Toledo Telephone Company

RayeAnn Underwood
Nominated by TwinValley Telephone

Christian Bowman
Nominated by United Telephone Company

Jacob Thibodaux
Nominated by Vision Communications

Alan Erickson
Nominated by Wahkiakum West Telephone

Jacque Hansen
Nominated by Whidbey Telecom