Winners Picked in MMUA Bovitz Scholarship Contest

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Winners Picked in MMUA Bovitz Scholarship Contest

April 28, 2020

The MMUA Tom Bovitz Memorial Scholarship Contest winners were selected Monday, April 28.  The top four essays in the 20^th annual contest are:

First Place: Cady Rancourt, Hibbing

Second Place: Ella Madson, Delano

Third Place: Jordan Mernaugh, Marshall

Fourth Place: Hailey Eggerbraaten, Alexandria                

The winning essay was “well written, had a great understanding of the scope and impact of public utilities, and a personality that put it over the top for me,” said one judge. Several others agreed, as Rancourt’s submission garnered four first place votes.

Also capturing a first-place vote was Madson’s entry. This essay “was very authentic,” said one judge. “She related utilities’ importance to herself and current events, appreciating the role they play in the COVID-19 pandemic. She also took the theme and expanded on it in the closing.”

After those two essays, the scoring tightened, with the Marshall and Alexandria essays capturing enough points to put them over the top.

The first-place scholarship carries an award of $2,000, second place $1,500, third place $1,000 and fourth place $500.

The contest was created as a public relations tool to increase the awareness of public power and create goodwill in the community for the local municipally-owned utility.  Essay theme was “Municipal Utilities: Good for All of Us.” 

The essays were initially submitted to the governing body of the local utility.  Winners of the local contests were then entered in the statewide contest.  Judges included five MMUA member utility representatives and one MMUA staff member. Judges ranked their top four essays, point values were assigned and winners selected.

The award is named in honor of the late Tom Bovitz, a firm believer in the value of education, who was a former general manager of Hibbing Public Utilities and MMUA president. MMUA, headquartered in Plymouth, represents the interests of the state’s 124 municipally-owned electric and 33 municipally-owned gas utilities.

MMUA thanks all its members who forwarded contest materials to their local schools and all contest entrants.