WIRE awards four scholarships
Students receive $1,000 each
The Kentucky Chapter of Women in Rural Electrification recently selected its 2025 scholarship winners: Bayley Bell, a Nolin RECC consumer-member; Brynn Cooper, a Salt River Electric consumer-member; Taylor Lanham, a Kenergy consumer-member; and Raigan Stec, an Inter-County Energy consumer-member.
Each receives a $1,000 scholarship.
Bell is a student at Jefferson Community and Technical College studying to be a physical therapy assistant.
“I am deeply grateful for programs like the WIRE Scholarship that make it possible for students like me to move forward in the face of adversity,” Bell writes in her application.
Cooper is studying biosystems and agricultural engineering at the University of Kentucky.
“Being in a male-dominated major, it would mean so much to receive this scholarship—not just for the financial relief, but as an affirmation that I belong in this field and can thrive as a future engineer,” Cooper says in her application.
Lanham attends the University of Louisville, seeking a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
“I strive to be the nurse that patients look forward to seeing,” she writes. “But I also want to be a secret hero that does not formally get credit for actions that will certainly provide such reward and satisfaction in my life.”
Lanham says the scholarship will allow her to “focus my attention largely on my education instead of how to finance it.”
A student at Boyce College in Louisville, Stec is studying philosophy, politics and economics.
Stec says his gratitude will “translate into hard work and diligence, the kind that furthers my academic journey.”
Women in Rural Electrification was created as a nonprofit organization to foster interest in and understanding of the rural electric program and to improve the quality of life in rural areas. WIRE Scholarships are specifically for students who are already enrolled in college. Scholarships are funded in large part from proceeds of a silent auction at the Kentucky Electric Cooperatives annual meeting.
The 2026 WIRE scholarship application period opens in January.
SHANNON BROCK is the editor of Kentucky Living. She enjoys telling stories of co-op members and employees who live out the co-op mission.
