Local Graduates Selected for NewSun Energy Climate + Ag Scholarship
Violet Woods of Sherman County and Roberto Rodriguez Perez, and Elizabeth Areco Dorado, both of The Dalles, earn scholarships.
From NewSun Energy:
By Josie Norris
The Dalles Ore., June 12, 2024 — Roberto Rodriguez Perez and Elizabeth Areco Dorado, recent The Dalles High School graduates, were awarded scholarships this year through NewSun Energy’s 2nd Annual Climate + Ag Essay Contest.
Roberto Rodriguez Perez
Applicants were asked to write 800-1,200 words about how climate change, renewable energy, and other factors affect regional farming and ranching and how those compare to impacts on agriculture worldwide. NewSun Energy encouraged applicants to write about their personal or community experiences.
Rodriguez Perez, whose family emigrated from Mexico and has worked in Wasco County orchards, received a $2,500 scholarship. His essay explained how his faith and personal experience in agriculture inspired him to study environmental science. Late freezes and high summer temperatures have taken a toll on cherry harvests and the people who rely on them for income.
“Climate change has disproportionately affected rural occupations rather than those in urban locations,” he wrote. “People who work in large urban cities experience the grueling heat much less than those in agricultural spaces. People who work in these office spaces have the luxury of avoiding the harsh temperatures. Rural workers’ lives are much more intertwined with the environmental and seasonal conditions of the area. The community is often very connected with the success of local farms and is at times reliant on agricultural revenue streams.”
Elizabeth Areco Dorado
Areco Dorado received a $500 scholarship and plans to attend Columbia Gorge Community College in the fall. She also worked with her family in orchards in Oregon and California and wrote about the impact of high-intensity heat waves on crops and workers.
“This shared experience, laboring under the sun, has fostered a deep camaraderie among us, transcending individual struggles to work towards a common goal: the harvest,” she wrote. “Yet, their resilience is tested as they confront the harsh realities of climate change, which threaten not only their livelihoods but also their very way of life.”
Essays were reviewed by a bipartisan committee consisting of six Oregon legislators and representatives from Oregon-based environmental and energy organizations.
“I was inspired by reading the essays of these scholarship recipients. They have a deep appreciation for the impacts of climate change and the importance of renewable energy because their lives and communities are touched by it every day,” said Rep. Mark Gamba. “They are the changemakers we need to encourage in the next generation.”
Violet Woods
Violet Woods, a recent Sherman County High School graduate, was awarded a $500 scholarship this year through NewSun Energy’s 2nd Annual Climate + Ag Essay Contest. She will attend the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in the fall.
Woods wrote about the toll of extreme weather on the electric grid and the importance of resiliency. She used the example of winter storms and wildfires in Sherman County.
“It is due to extreme weather patterns and shifts in the climate that have caused more financial and personal hardships for small communities,” she wrote. “In the future, with more natural disasters and chaotic weather patterns, rural communities will be asking for more assistance to recover than before.”
Essays were reviewed by a bipartisan committee consisting of six Oregon legislators and representatives from Oregon-based environmental and energy organizations.
“Perhaps nobody feels the urgency of finding energy and environmental solutions more than our students, and these scholarship recipients from rural Oregon have shown they are prepared to put their life experience to work,” said Rep. Ken Helm.
The NewSun Energy Climate + Ag Scholarship awarded $11,500 to graduating seniors in Harney, Crook, Lake, Wasco, Sherman, and Klamath counties, who are attending college in the Fall of 2024. Other scholarship recipients for 2024 were Gus Hendricks from Klamath Falls, Blake Herinckx from Silver Lake, Josie Taylor from Burns, Violet Woods from Moro, and Andraya McNary from Prineville.
NewSun Energy is a renewable energy development group primarily focusing on solar projects that bring sustainability, economic development, and jobs to rural Oregon. The NewSun Energy Community Benefits Program invests in the arts, public health, education, and environment in the communities we serve.
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