MLEC Short Story Contest Winners Selected

Fourteen students receive scholarships

(May 21, 2025 – Centerville, TN) — Perry County Junior Rhonda Ledbetter is the five-county winner in Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative’s annual writing contest. She will receive a $1000 scholarship from MLEC, the Larry Stringer Memorial Scholarship for $2000 and could win additional funding through the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association’s statewide contest.

Additionally, a boy and girl winner from seven high schools also received $1000 scholarships from MLEC. They include:

East Hickman High School: Mackenzie Cox and Christopher Batson

Hickman County High School: Mary Mitra and Tim Puckett

Houston County High School: Daniella Stringfield and Fisher Sutton

Lewis County High School: Geena Caprio and Aiden Wise

McEwen High School: Katherine Ross and Ryan Lynch

Perry County High School: Rhonda Ledbetter (Overall winner and $3000 in scholarships) and Edward Watson

Waverly Central High School: Marian Callicott and Kyson Summers

The theme for this year’s annual contest was “Energizing Every Moment.” High school juniors were asked to write about how electric cooperatives improve communities across their service areas while providing safe, affordable, reliable electricity and other services.

A winning student from each school, who resides with an MLEC member, has the opportunity to serve as an MLEC delegate on the 2025 Washington Youth Tour in June. Students who accepted the trip to Washington D.C. are Mitra, Sutton, Caprio, Lynch, Ledbetter and Callicott. MLEC Communications Coordinator Benjamin Armstrong and Employee and Member Services Assistant Holly McKennon will serve as chaperones. Additionally, as the teacher of the overall winner, PCHS’s Kennedi Bates was also awarded the trip.

“The Washington Youth Tour invests in the future leaders of our communities,” says MLEC President and CEO Keith Carnahan. “We are excited to further their education and bring a new group to our Nation’s Capital to learn more about electric cooperatives and our country’s history.”

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