Richmond, Va. — Jordan Newman, a senior at Cumberland High School in Cumberland County, has earned a $1,500 educational scholarship from the Virginia Cooperative Council (VCC). After state response to the COVID-19 pandemic forced cancellation of VCC’s annual Virginia Institute on Cooperative Education (VICE), student applicants were invited to complete a more in-depth project on the cooperative business of their choice in order to be considered for scholarships normally awarded to top VICE participants.
“Jordan not only earned 100% scores on two online tests based on information we provided about Virginia cooperatives, but also submitted a top-notch report on Farmers’ Cooperative of Farmville,” said VCC board member Brian Wolfe, who works for Rappahannock Electric Cooperative and served on this year’s review panel.
Newman has been accepted by Virginia Polytechnic & State University for the fall of 2020, where he plans to study agribusiness.
“VCC scholarships are funded by the Virginia Foundation of Cooperation, created a decade ago following generous donations by Claud Scroggs and Luther Raper that the Council,” explained Executive Secretary Mary Howell. “Despite limitations created by COVID-19, we were able to fulfill our mission of educating young Virginians about cooperatives and give this year’s VICE applicants the same opportunity to earn scholarships as in previous years.”
About VCC: Founded in 1962 as the Virginia Council of Farmer Cooperatives, in 2009 the organization’s board voted to adopt the name “Virginia Cooperative Council” to better reflect the expanding scope of cooperative organizations throughout the state. For more information, visit www.virginia.coop.