NEW LONDON — Ten north central Ohio students earned a combined $12,000 worth of scholarships recently from Firelands Electric Cooperative.
Haley McNaull of Ashland High School was selected as the first-place winner of $1,800 during Firelands Electric Cooperative’s recent 2026 scholarship contest. The daughter of Greg and Julie McNaull of Ashland, she plans to study horticulture and crop science at The Ohio State University in the fall.
McNaull will also participate in a statewide contest on April 7 at Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives in Columbus. During this event, representatives from Ohio’s 24 electric co-ops have a chance to compete for additional scholarships worth up to $4,600.
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The second-place winner of a $1,600 scholarship is Adelynn Smith of South Central High School. Smith is the daughter of Nick and Megan Smith of Willard. She plans to study English, but is currently undecided which college she will attend.
Bryan Chaffee of South Central High School is the winner of the third-place, $1,400 scholarship. Son of Ben and Jody Chaffee of North Fairfield, he plans to pursue a degree in environmental engineering at Ohio Northern University.
Fourth-place winner of a $1,200 scholarship is Adilynn Helbert of Ashland High School. Helbert is the daughter of Zachary and Tonya Helbert of Ashland. She will be studying biology at John Carroll in the fall.
Morgan Trumpower, Emily Lamoreaux, Taylor Smith, and Ava Deel won the co-op’s four $1,000 Judges’ Choice awards.
Trumpower is the daughter of Aaron Trumpower and Jodi Trumpower. She plans to study nursing at North Central State College next fall. Lamoreaux, the daughter of Marc and Melia Lamoreaux, will be attending Cedarville University to study early childhood education.
The daughter of Brian and Amanda Smith, Smith plans to study finance at Ashland University in the fall.
Deel, who is the daughter of Lisa Deel, will be majoring in nursing at Bowling Green State University.
Carlee Hess of New London High School and EHOVE is the winner of Firelands’ $1,000 2026 Career Scholarship. Hess is the daughter of Micheal and Dawn Hess of New London. She plans to enroll in the sonography program at Bowling Green State University’s Firelands Campus.
Lucas-area resident P.J. Ryan was selected to receive the cooperative’s $1,000 Career Scholarship for pre-June 2024 graduates who are returning to post-secondary education in pursuit of a certificate or degree in a vocational or tech field. Ryan will be enrolling in Stark State College’s paramedic to RN bridge program.
Firelands Electric’s annual scholarship contest is open to those who reside in a home served by the cooperative.
This year, the co-op received applications from students attending Ashland, Crestview, Loudonville, Lucas, Mapleton, New London, Norwalk, South Central, and Willard high schools.
Photos of all winners may be viewed in the cooperative’s Flicker gallery at www.flickr.com/photos/firelandsec/albums.