Congrats, Winners

Lane Electric Cooperative Recognizes 2025 Scholarship Recipients

Lane Electric Cooperative recognizes students in its service territory for their past work and future goals. 4 students—Hadassa Francis, Maxwell Maher, Halle Violette, and Gavin Foglio—were awarded Lane Electric scholarships to help with college tuition and fees at the co-op’s annual meeting in July.

Eva Seip was also recognized as Lane Electric’s 2026 National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Youth Tour delegate.

Get to know these 5 students.

Hadassa Francis

• Recipient of $4,500 Dave D’Avanzo Memorial Community Scholarship to Lane Community College.

When Hadassa saw information about Lane Electric’s scholarships in Ruralite magazine, she was inspired to look up information on Dave D’Avanzo. What she read about Dave and the testimonials written about the former member services manager at Lane Electric further inspired her to apply for the scholarship.

“I’m very glad my application materials matched the character of Dave D’Avanzo,” the 20-year-old student at Lane Community College says. “I hope to carry that character with me as I pursue my passion in chemical engineering.”

Hadassa is an Oakridge resident and a 2023 graduate of Cottage Grove Charter School, Academy of Character Education. Because she changed her major from civil engineering to chemical engineering, she’s attending Lane Community College for her 3rd year.

“I changed to chemical engineering because I want to make products through chemistry,” Hadassa says.

She plans to be a process engineer and a private label soap company owner.

“Civil engineering mostly focuses on structures, but I want to do things on the chemical level,” she says.

Next year, she plans to transfer to Oregon State University to complete her work for a chemical engineering degree.

“Thank you very much, Lane Electric,” she says. “Without it, I would not be able to meet my goals of becoming an uplifting leader in my community and graduating debt-free.”

Maxwell Maher

• Recipient of $3,000 scholarship for the college of choice.

Maxwell graduated from Oakridge High School in June and is a freshman at Oregon State University. He is majoring in fish and wildlife conservation.

The 18-year-old, who is a hunter and fisherman, has heard plenty of outdoors and wildlife stories around his family’s house. His grandfather was a fish hatchery manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and his father was an Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife trooper.

“My goal is to work for ODFW and eventually become a fish hatchery manager,” he says.

His outdoor experiences also include harvesting 2 cow elk, 4 blacktail buck deer, and several ducks. While fishing, he’s reeled in Chinook and kokanee salmon.

At Oakridge High, Maxwell was the student body vice president during his senior year. He was an all-around athlete, playing football, basketball, and baseball. He also played golf during his freshman year.

“I’d like to thank Lane Electric for this scholarship and thank it for helping other students on their journeys to college and for all it does for the communities it serves,” Maxwell says.

Halle Violette

• Recipient of $3,000 scholarship for the college of choice.

Halle, a 2023 Cottage Grove High School graduate, is a junior at Oregon State University, where she is majoring in fish and wildlife conservation.

“I’ve always had a passion for the outdoors,” she says. “I love fishing and hunting.”

In her first year of youth hunting, she tagged 2 4-point blacktail bucks, 1 on a youth tag and the other with her general season tag. Since then, she’s also harvested 2 cow elk.

“I usually catch my share of fish,” she says.

Halle’s goal after earning her OSU degree is to either work for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife or become an Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife trooper. She rode along with an OSP trooper and is currently leaning toward that profession as a career.

She says the Lane Electric scholarship is helps reduce the amount of loans for her school expenses.

“The scholarship is a huge help, and I greatly appreciate Lane Electric for helping me out,” Halle says.

Gavin Foglio

• Recipient of $5,500 scholarship to Vocational Outside Line Training Academy.

Gavin graduated from Pleasant Hill High School in June and left for the Vocational Outside Line Training Academy in mid-September.

The 10-week VOLTA training at Camp Rilea in Warrenton will prepare Gavin for a career in power line and infrastructure work. Gavin has seen up close what the work involves since he’s been on 3 ride-alongs with lineworkers—2 with Lane Electric and 1 with the Emerald People’s Utility District.

“I like the trucks, and I liked being in the outdoors,” the 18-year-old says. “I’ve seen the process and I’ve seen the teamwork needed to get the job done.”

Prior to making the trip to Camp Rilea, Gavin spent time in a friend’s backyard where a pole had been erected, practicing his climbing skills.

During his time at Pleasant Hill High, Gavin played basketball, and he was a member of the sporting clays club. He also participated in FFA, raising and showing pigs for 8 years. 1 of his 8 pigs earned reserve grand champion honors.

After the VOLTA training, he hopes to work for an electric cooperative or in outside construction and eventually, after several years of work, earn journey-level lineworker status.

“I can’t thank Lane Electric enough for this opportunity,” Gaivn says. “It puts me a step ahead in my future and what I want to do.”

Eva Seip

• Recipient of Lane Electric Youth Tour sponsorship.

“It was really incredible,” Eva says of her all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., in June to tour federal government buildings and learn more about the policymaking process.

“I’m interested in law and political science, and seeing this up close will help me in making decisions for college,” she says.

Eva is a senior at South Eugene High School. She saw information about the annual Youth Tour trip in Ruralite magazine and submitted an application. Her essay compared small electric cooperatives to big-city utilities, focusing on the power demand and customer bases.

Her tour group of 15 included students from Oregon and California. The students visited Congress, the Capitol building, the Library of Congress, and met with Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden.

“I would love to study in Washington, D.C.,” Eva says.

Her dream school is American University. She says she is also considering George Mason University. Both universities are in the D.C. area.

At South Eugene High, Eva takes advanced placement government classes.

“This trip will help me make some important decisions after graduation,” she says. “I’m very, very grateful I got selected by Lane Electric to make this trip.”

She encourages other students to apply for the Youth Tour.

“There is no reason not to apply for this trip,” she says. “You just have to absolutely experience this if you have the opportunity.”