Youth programs help area young people achieve their goals

Support of county livestock sales...
With its roots in the rural, or farming, areas, SECO has a long tradition of support of FFA and 4-H groups through participation and purchase of steer and swine at annual youth livestock sales during the local county fairs. Our participation helps young people whose future plans may include a career in farming, or ranching.

College scholarships...
SECO continues to support the youth of our area through a Scholarship Program for deserving high school seniors. Demonstrating the Co-op's commitment to education, twelve $2,500 scholarships are awarded to graduating seniors in our service area each year. Scholarships are available to high school seniors after graduation at the end of the school year. Students must reside in a home served by Sumter Electric Cooperative, Inc. And, students must be enrolled full-time in an accredited college, university, or vocational/technical school by the end of that calendar year.

New Discovery middle school program...
The nation’s 600+ Touchstone Energy cooperatives, including SECO, and Discovery Channel School have entered into a unique partnership to provide local middle schools with learning materials to explore the study of electricity, part of the schools’ core science curriculum. More on Get Charged!

Active school safety program...
For years, SECO has worked with educators in its service area to teach students electrical safety and has supported a wide variety of programs and initiatives that benefit the youth. In support of local educators and for the safety of everyone, SECO donated weather monitors through its Angel Fund to all public and private schools within our service territory, regardless of whether or not they were our customers. The monitors receive continual local broadcasts 24-hours a day from the National Weather Service. Whenever the weather service interrupts their routine weather broadcasts to substitute weather warnings, a siren and flashing red light alerts listeners. This safety measure for the schools doubles as a learning tool for the science curriculum.

More school programs & speakers...
SECO employees participate in Career Fairs, judge Science Fairs, and give safety demonstrations to classes from K-12. While our primary focus for these programs is to teach children about safety and to respect the power of electricity, other programs provide instruction on how electricity works, how it is generated and about career choices in the electric utility industry.

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Page last updated: Friday, March 5, 2010