Education has always been at the heart of SELCO.
Founded by educators, we believe no student’s future should be limited by financial barriers. To carry on this legacy, in 2021, we commemorated the 31st anniversary of the SELCO Scholarships program by awarding $2,500 scholarships to 19 high school seniors and debuting a new $5,000 scholarship in honor of Richard Metzler.
Metzler served on the SELCO board for more than four decades and was a dedicated leader at Springfield Public Schools. He spent over 30 years as a director and supervisor of special education. Throughout his life, Metzler demonstrated leadership, resilience, and a deep commitment to education.
Beginning this year SELCO will award one student the Richard Metzler Opportunity Scholarship. This award recognizes one student who has demonstrated excellence in education, leadership, or civic responsibility despite adversity or lack of resources.
And the inaugural Richard Metzler Opportunity Scholarship goes to...
The first recipient of the Richard Metzler Opportunity Scholarship is Rattapat Thongthaengthai from Springfield High School (SHS) in Springfield, Oregon. While at SHS, he was president of the DECA Business Club and co-founded the Ukelele Club. On top of these activities, Thongthaengthai was also a member of the soccer team all four years at SHS. He now plans on attending the University of Oregon in the fall where he’ll be pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Congratulations, Rattapat, we’re excited to see what your future holds.
2021 SELCO Scholarship Recipients
“This has been a challenging year for students in Oregon and elsewhere, to say the least. We’re grateful to be able to provide these 20 deserving recipients with a head start toward realizing their educational and career goals,” said Craig Carpenter, SELCO’s Senior Vice President of Lending & Business Solutions.
The 20 scholarship recipients for 2021 will receive a combined total of $52,000 in scholarship funds to use toward college-related expenses. Within the last five years alone, SELCO has provided $215,000 in scholarships, and we plan to keep building on this in the years to come.
Please see the full list of recipients below:
Published May 11, 2021
