Consumers Credit Union is pleased to announce the 11 winners of the revamped Consumers Scholars program. This year Consumers awarded one grand prize scholarship of $20,000 and an additional 10 $1,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors. The scholarship fund is collected from our coin machines and from Consumers employees themselves, who contribute through paycheck donations—a direct link from employees to the members they serve.

Scholarships were awarded to students who will attend a university, college or trade school in fall of 2020. The winners were all full-time high school seniors and met the requirements laid out by the scholarship committee; including academic achievement, community service and an essay contest. The top 11 finalists were selected through a blind selection process based on the scores of the essay committee. Complete details can be found at Consumerscu.org/Scholarships.

The top 11 finalists then submitted a 60-second video explaining why they should win the $20,000 scholarship. All Consumers employees were able to vote for the grand prize winner from the top three video submissions, as selected by a separate committee. The $20,000 scholarship winner was Makenna Veen of Plainwell High School who will be attending Michigan State University in the fall. See Makenna’s winning video here.

The 10 other $1,000 scholarship winners are (click their name to see their video submission):

Cayla Stout of Mattawan High school, attending Grand Valley State University.

Bryan Hagenbarth of Mattawan High School, attending Western Michigan University

Kira Woodhouse of the West Michigan Aviation Academy, attending the University of Michigan

Grace Foster of Gull Lake High School, attending the University of Michigan

Connor Stutz of Parchment High School, attending Hillsdale College

Madison Mace of Portage Northern High School, attending Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business

Karli Hall of Mattawan High School, attending Western Michigan University

Ellen Young of Hamilton High School, attending Michigan State University

Jarrett Riordan of West Ottawa High School, attending Michigan State University

Jackson Kinney of Portage Central High School, attending Kalamazoo Valley Community College

Consumers surprised the grand prize winner at her home today with an announcement through Facebook Live. Today’s announcement marks the 13th year Consumers has helped high school members continue their eductions. Information for the 2021 scholarship process will be released late this year.