Iron Area Health Foundation awards four $1,000 scholarships to seniors

Four Forest Park High School seniors each picked up $1,000 scholarships from the Iron Area Health Foundation, a small but pointed investment in Iron County’s next wave of health and technical talent.

The awards went to Elsie Williams, Jonnie Ketola, Ava Fischer and Fynnly Ketola during the school’s scholarship program in Crystal Falls. Each student is headed into a demanding field: Williams has been accepted to Grand Valley State University to study physical therapy, Jonnie Ketola will attend Michigan State University for biochemistry, Fischer is bound for the Milwaukee School of Engineering to study biomedical electrical engineering, and Fynnly Ketola will attend Bellin College for radiologic science.

The scholarship money matters well beyond the senior awards night. Health-related majors often carry steep costs through lab fees, equipment, clinical training and years of coursework before graduates are ready to enter the workforce. For a small county like Iron, where local employers have long faced pressure to attract and keep skilled workers, scholarships that steer students into therapy, science and medical technology can help build a homegrown talent pipeline.

The Iron Area Health Foundation says its mission is to provide leadership, guidance and support for Iron County residents to create a place of healthful living. The scholarship program was established in 2023 for graduates of West Iron County High School and Forest Park High School, originally with the goal of naming one annual recipient at each school who was pursuing a health-related degree. The application asked for transcripts, a college acceptance letter, two letters of recommendation and a three-paragraph statement about the student’s choice of study, growing up in a rural community and the importance of health services in rural areas.

The Forest Park awards also show how the program has grown. In 2024, the foundation gave $500 scholarships to five West Iron County seniors. In 2025, it expanded to both West Iron County and Forest Park, including three Forest Park seniors, still at the $500 level. This year’s four Forest Park awards doubled to $1,000 apiece.

Forest Park’s scholarship system runs through several local and memorial awards, and the Dickinson Area Community Foundation manages the school’s endowed scholarships. Its application period typically opens in the fall and is due March 15, keeping the flow of support steady for students heading into college and, in these cases, into fields with clear value for Iron County’s future.