Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) Scholarships
The Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) will award 30 - $2,500 scholarships to qualified rural students in May 2012 – one per geographic region of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA), and one to a student sponsored by an NTCA associate member. The remaining 19 awards will be distributed proportionate to the number of applications received from each NTCA region. The FRS will fund $2,000 of each scholarship, with the sponsoring organization of each winning student providing a $500 match. Plateau is proud to join with the FRS to bring this opportunity to the rural students of eastern New Mexico and west Texas.
Committed to Excellence Scholarship
$1,000 Scholarships Available to Eligible High School Seniors and Returning College Students
Plateau, through its Board of Directors, has established an endowment fund for needs-based one-time scholarships. The company, as a regional telecommunications company in Eastern New Mexico, is a strong advocate for higher education and the economic, cultural, and social well-being of the communities in the Cooperative service area.
A limited number of one-time scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each will be available to eligible candidates. Graduating high school seniors and college students who are returning after a break of two or more consecutive semesters are eligible to apply. The applicant must be an immediate family member or dependent of a Cooperative member who resides within one of the Cooperative service area exchanges. Dependents of current employees of Plateau are also eligible, regardless of residence. Determination of eligibility and other criteria will be evaluated by Board-appointed committee.
Innovation in Schools Grant Program
Plateau offers opportunities for schools and school personnel within its Cooperative service areas to obtain financial support to improve teaching and learning activities. School districts, individual schools, departments within schools, groups of classroom teachers, or individual teachers may request a grant to a maximum of $5,000 to encourage innovation in teaching with a special emphasis in the use of broadband Internet as a learning tool. Multiple requests from the same school or school district will be considered, as long as the requests are distinctly separate and for different purposes.
Nuestro Vecinos "Our Neighbors" Grant
Rural communities are often at a disadvantage in expanding jobs, creating opportunities for new businesses, or retaining existing small business operations. Barriers associated with geographic isolation, low market density, deteriorating infrastructure, and high unemployment rates underscore the need for community development. To better strengthen and develop communities served by ENMR•Plateau, a matching grant program has been established, “Nuestro Vecinos—Our Neighbors” (“the Grant Program”).
Public Safety Education Grants
Rural public safety agencies are often at a disadvantage in expanding their knowledge and meeting mandated training requirements due to a lack of funds available from the municipalities or counties in which they serve. Most rural communities have volunteers who assist in both fire-fighting and emergency medical response.
To assist with the training and educational costs associated with maintaining well-trained and certified law enforcement and fire protection officers, Plateau awards grants to rural communities, municipalities, and public safety departments (whether paid or volunteer) associated with the communities within the Cooperative service area.
To better strengthen and develop communities served by the Cooperative, a “no-match” grant fund has been established, “Public Safety Education Grant Fund”, which will award up to $5,000 per award to be used for those purposes described under the eligibility requirements.
2012 Education Foundation Scholarship
Each year, the Education Foundation has awarded scholarships with alternates to high school seniors who reside in one of the telephone exchanges served by the Cooperative. The scholarships are very competitive and receive careful review by a committee comprised of Education Foundation members. The names of the applicants are concealed so that the committee does not have access to anything other than the application data and is purposefully not informed of who the individual applicants are until which time the information contained in the form has been judged, rated and assigned an award status.
