Okefenoke REMC recently held its 32nd annual Youth Awards Banquet to announce its 2025 OREMC Scholarship winners, Walter Harrison Scholarship recipient and four Youth Tour Delegates.

 Students residing in one of the eight counties OREMC serves—Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Glynn, Ware and Wayne counties in Georgia, and Baker and Nassau counties in Florida—were eligible to apply for the 10 scholarships of $2,000 each.  Scholarships were awarded to students accepted to a college or technical school and based on their autobiographical sketch, academic achievement, extra-curricular and community service activities, letters of recommendation and financial need. Their awards bring OREMC’s total scholarships awarded to-date: $340,250.

This year’s winners are: Karis Richardson and Cooper Sands, Baker County High School; Iyana Nobles, Brunswick High School; Jaedyn Bropleh, Inaaya Raoof and Braydon Smith, Camden County High School; Lainey Kate Harris, Charlton County High School; Andrew Walden, Glynn Academy; Owen Hopkins, Ware County High School; and Brody Singley, West Nassau County High School.

Walter Harrison Scholarship Recipient

From the OREMC Scholarship winners, Iyana Nobles from Brunswick High School was selected as a finalist for the Walter Harrison Scholarship, which is funded and awarded by the Georgia Electric Membership Corporation. The scholarship is named in honor of Walter Harrison, a pioneer in the rural electricity movement and a leader at the local, state and national levels in the electric cooperative program. Selected students must be accepted at and planning to attend a college or technical school in Georgia. Out of the 78 finalists nominated from electric membership cooperatives across the state of Georgia, Iyana was one of 17 awarded a $1,000 Walter Harrison Scholarship for 2025.

Four Delegates Selected OREMC Youth Tour Delegates

OREMC has selected four students as 2025 Youth Tour delegates: Troy Medcalf, Brantley County High School; Micaela Vazquez, Brunswick High School; Emory Popham, Charlton County High School; and Emma Dillard, Hilliard Middle Senior High School. They will join delegates from Georgia’s 38 other electric membership cooperatives for an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., in June for the Youth Tour Leadership Experience. The trip will begin with teambuilding in Atlanta before heading to Washington where they will meet with elected officials and be immersed in monuments, museums, memorials and more. OREMC has been sponsoring students to attend the Youth Tour for 33 years, or 124 students cumulatively.