PINEVILLE, La. – Cleco, along with the Central Louisiana Community Foundation, selected five recipients for its 2017 Cleco Education Fund scholarships.  The awards, totaling $3,500, were given to children of Cleco employees who excel in academics, participate in community service, are active in the workforce and are recommended by their peers. 

“We had 30 applicants, all deserving of the recognition,” said Susan Broussard, Cleco’s general manager of human resources and public relations.  “The Scholarship Advisory Committee had the difficult task of narrowing down the applicant pool to just five students.” 

This year’s Cleco Education Fund scholarship recipients included three graduating seniors, one continuing education student and one technical college student. 

Graduating seniors:

Madison Cathey, a graduate of Quitman High School, was awarded a $1,000 Cleco scholarship to attend Louisiana Tech University.  Among other accolades, she was named Jackson Parish Student of the Year and graduated with 15 hours of college credit. 

“I am honored to receive the Cleco scholarship,” said Cathey, daughter of James McCrory, senior predictive maintenance and performance technician at Cleco’s Brame Energy Center in Lena.  “A big thank you goes to Cleco for giving me this scholarship.”

Connor Miller of Sunset is a recent graduate of Opelousas Catholic High School.  With the help of a $300 Cleco scholarship, he will attend Louisiana State University at Eunice to study kinesiology with plans to obtain an advanced degree in occupational and physical therapy.  His father is Jonathan Miller, manager of power plant maintenance at Cleco’s Acadia Power Station in Eunice.

Christopher Reese, a 2017 graduate of Alexandria Senior High, is the son of Tonya Nash, manager of corporate training and employee development at Cleco’s headquarters in Pineville.  In addition to his $700 Cleco scholarship, Reese was selected for the President’s Award at Centenary College of Louisiana which will award him $25,000 annually for achieving a minimum GPA of 3.7 and scoring a minimum ACT composite score of 28.   

“The Cleco scholarship is unique because it considers other criteria like involvement in the community and requires letters of recommendation from my teachers and coaches, in addition to academics,” said Reese, who also will be a member of Centenary’s Division III swim team.  “That means a lot because I have worked hard in academics, as well as played sports and volunteered in the community. I thank Cleco for this recognition, as well as helping me financially.  Every penny helps when it comes to paying for school.”

Continuing education / technical college students:

Mary Nichols, the daughter of Joe Nichols, lead fuel handling technician at Cleco’s Brame Energy Center, received a $1,000 scholarship to Louisiana College (LC).  She is a continuing student who received a Cleco scholarship last year as a graduating senior from Northwood High School.  As a freshman at LC, she maintained a 4.0 GPA carrying 15 hours and is a member of the women’s volleyball team. 

High achievement runs in the Nichols family as Joe’s son, James Nichols of Boyce, was awarded a $500 scholarship from Cleco to attend Central Louisiana Technical Community College in Alexandria. 

“On behalf of Cleco, I would like to congratulate the 2017 recipients,” said Broussard.  “Cleco scholarships support Cleco families and reinforce the importance of higher education.  Cleco’s commitment to education is the best investment we can make in our communities.”