Scholarship Helps Recipient Return Home

Tim Hartmann

Tim Hartmann realized the benefits of a scholarship even before graduating from Custer High School in 2010.

“Secondary education is not cheap,” he says. “I was very grateful to have the financial assistance to help me pursue my college endeavor.”

Tim is one of the nearly 1,000 graduating seniors who have received a $1,000 scholarship from Golden West Telecommunications over the past 22 years. After presenting 40-plus scholarships to seniors graduating in
2021, Golden West will surpass $1 million in total scholarship contributions.

Tim attended South Dakota State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in construction management and minored in business. After graduating in 2014, he worked for the South Dakota Department of Transportation as a technician responsible for testing and inspection of large construction projects. A few years, later he returned to his hometown as planning administrator for the City of Custer, where he handles a wide variety of construction and administrative work.

“It’s all directly related to my degree,” he says. “I’m amazed how my scholarship helped out in so many different ways.”

2021 Graduates Encouraged to Apply

Scholarship recipients are selected from each of the Golden West area high schools. One at-large scholarship is also given to a student whose parents receive Golden West services, but the student is either  homeschooled or attends a high school outside our service area.

All high school seniors who meet the following criteria are encouraged to apply for the regular or at-large scholarship:

• The student’s parents or legal guardians must reside within a Golden West’s service area and subscribe to Golden West phone or internet service.
• Applicant must be a high school senior.
• Applicant must take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), American College Test (ACT), or Accuplacer Vocational Entrance Exam by December 31 of their senior year.
• Scholarship awards may only be applied to post-secondary institutions.
• Recipient must take 12 or more classroom credits (or equivalent to a full-time course load) in the fall semester following high school graduation.

Students should contact their local high school to apply. At-large applications are available online at goldenwest.com/scholarships. The application deadline is March 15, 2021.