SEEDS (Sustainable Energy Education and Development Support) is offering a $1000 scholarship in memory of Michael “Jake” Burkhardt who was a student intern with SEEDS. Jake loved life, his family, his community and the environment and worked with SEEDS as a high school student. He was also a graduate of the Western Wayne Class of 2015.
Local high school seniors from Western Wayne High School, Honesdale High
School, Wallenpaupack Area High School, Damascus Christian Academy,
Canaan Christian Academy, Delaware Valley as well as home-schooled seniors who reside within the areas covered by those high schools. Essay submissions must be submitted via email to director@seedsgroup.net on or before 8:00 pm Thursday, April 30, 2026.
Applications must include:
1. Name
2. Address
3. Email Address
4. Phone number(s)
5. Parent/Guardian Name(s) and Address
6. Current High School (or “Home-schooled” if that is the case)
7. Proposed Field of Study
8. Name of College you will be attending in the fall
9. Essay content to address the following:
How can people from rural places, like Wayne or Pike Counties, contribute to a sustainable future both locally and globally? How would one balance the trade-offs between sustainability and economic development? Provide examples where sustainability is working or missing in your County.
The winner cannot be related to any SEEDS staff or board members. By submitting an essay, you agree that SEEDS can use the essay or excerpts from it for publication or other uses, with your name as the author, with your image. Winners will be encouraged to attend a SEEDS Board meeting in June.
Details of Participation:
● Entries will be reviewed by a panel of SEEDS volunteers based on the responsiveness to the
topic, the persuasiveness, logic, and cohesiveness of the ideas presented
● The essay may be in the text of the email or in a Microsoft Word file, and should be between
600 and 1600 words in length
● All specific research must contain properly cited sources and any plagiarized content will be
disqualified
● Incorrect grammar and spelling will not be viewed favorably