Clint Birtzer of Rosemount recently won the Jay York Scholarship for $300 given by Nobles Cooperative Electric, Worthington. He was one of five students Dakota Electric Association sponsored to attend the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. this summer. He was one of four selected from Minnesota for the York Scholarship.
Birtzer took advantage of the Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program at Inver Hills Community College during his junior and senior years in high school. He is attending his last year at Inver Hills and next year will transfer to the University of Minnesota to study journalism. Along with writing, Clint enjoys music and plays his guitar in a bluegrass band (www.sawtoothbluegrass.com). He is the 2009 and 2011 Minnesota State Flat-picking Guitar Champion.
The York Scholarship was established in 1994 by Minnesota’s electric cooperatives in recognition of Jay A. York. York was the first Minnesotan to head the NRECA and a prominent figure in rural electric cooperative issues for nearly 30 years. He was chairman and director for Nobles Cooperative Electric, which administers the scholarship fund.