Branson students earn San Isabel Electric’s top scholarships

Two Branson Reorganized School District students earned San Isabel Electric Association’s top scholarship honors this spring, giving one of Las Animas County’s smallest districts a rare and concrete academic win with real financial value for college and trade-school plans. In a district where Branson School enrolled 67 students and the broader school system counted 465 students last year, the awards stand out because they can help pay costs that often block rural graduates long before enrollment paperwork does.

San Isabel Electric awarded a record $60,000 in scholarships to 37 students at its annual banquet on April 30. Among the winners, William Doherty of Branson received the Brendon Beach Memorial Scholarship, one of the co-op’s highest honors. The award carries special weight in a community where families often juggle tuition, books, transportation, and the cost of staying close enough to home to make college or line school possible.

The Brendon Beach memorial award covers all tuition and fees for line school except travel and lodging, a detail that matters in rural southeastern Colorado, where the nearest training program may still require a significant drive or an overnight stay. The scholarship honors Brendon Beach, a San Isabel Electric lineworker who died in an off-duty auto accident in March 2024. For students looking toward utility work, a path that can lead directly into stable employment, the scholarship removes one of the largest barriers to entry.

San Isabel Electric said its scholarship program began in 1990, and this year’s awards were part of a broader regional competition that included students from across its service territory in seven southern Colorado counties. The co-op’s selection process is notably demanding for a local scholarship: applicants are scored on resumes, cover letters, recommendation letters, a 750-word essay, and grammar and punctuation before the board interviews the top candidates for the Powered-Up Scholarship. That makes the Branson awards not just a community nod, but a competitive credential earned against students from outside the county as well.

The scale of this year’s program also marks growth from 2025, when San Isabel Electric awarded more than $50,000 to 41 students. Applications will reopen Nov. 1, 2026, and must be submitted by 5 p.m. Feb. 15. For Branson, the result is straightforward: in a rural district where counseling pipelines and family resources are thinner than in larger systems, outside scholarships can turn a college option into a realistic one.