Six OSU Institute of Technology students were recipients of the 2023 Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company (OG&E) Positive Energy scholarship. The Positive Energy program prevents financial resources from being a barrier to students pursuing a degree and a career.

Jakob Bush, Gage Gill, Zane Hendrix, Alex Howard, Dallas Landers and Denton Williams received scholarships ranging from $1,500 to $3,500 from the OG&E Energy Corp. Foundation.

Landers, from Fort Gibson, is enrolled in the Power Plant Technology program in the School of Engineering & Construction Technologies. He credits OSUIT's detailed coursework in building advanced machinery and power plant operations knowledge as needed to excel in his internship with OG&E.

"The Positive Energy scholarship has been extremely helpful while obtaining my degree in Power Plant Technology and will help me advance myself further in the workforce," Landers said. "I completed my internship at OG&E Muskogee Power Plant and received an offer to jumpstart my career full-time with them next month. I am extremely excited and wouldn't have made it this far without the help of my parents and the scholarship funds pushing me to graduate with great grades and skills to succeed in the industry."

OG&E is the oldest and largest electric company in Oklahoma. Since they launched the Positive Energy Scholarship program 10 years ago, 43 OSUIT students have received nearly $170,000 from OGE Energy Corp. Foundation. 

OG&E enjoys helping students work toward their future careers, with many scholarship recipients interning at OG&E and eventually landing full-time positions.

"We believe we're only as strong as the communities we serve, and this is just one of the ways we give back to our community,” said Mark Silvers, director of learning and workforce development at OG&E. “In addition, we want to help grow a diverse workforce in key career fields, and many of those careers are taught at OSUIT. This is also another way we invest in the next generation of OG&E employees.”

Each scholar was awarded funding based on their academic achievements, campus engagement, volunteer service and essay responses. Although this is a one-year scholarship, students can apply for a second year if they meet the minimum qualifications.

Qualifications include a minimum GPA of 2.5 and enrollment in the Associate Degree Program for Electrical/Electronic Technology, Instrumentation Engineering, Power Plant Technology, High Voltage Electricity or other degree programs as communicated by OG&E.