John Geremia Memorial Industrial Trades Scholarship

I am currently in my senior year of high school and have been accepted into Northwest Lineman School (California). I plan to complete my training in the 5 1/2 weeks as scheduled, starting August 8th of this year. After that, I plan to apply to all available jobs within an hour and a half of Roseville. If I don’t get hired within a year, I will travel out of state for work. It was a crisp morning on the outskirts of the city, where rows of newly built homes stood waiting for their final touches. That day, our crew from Roseville Electrical Operations was tasked with installing streetlights. I had been interning with the linemen for a few months, learning the ropes, but this was my chance to step up. As we arrived on-site, I took the initiative to organize the workflow. I helped direct the placement of each base and post, ensuring that every piece was where it needed to be. When the apprentice operating the auger began drilling the holes, I stepped in to guide him, making sure each hole was positioned correctly and met the required depth. My role wasn’t just to assist—I was actively problem-solving, adjusting plans as needed, and keeping the process moving efficiently. It wasn’t all easy. We ran into equipment hiccups and had to be meticulous about ensuring each streetlight was level. At one point, I stepped away to start staging bases and posts to speed up our repetitive tasks. That experience reinforced my confidence in taking charge and leading by action. I learned that leadership isn’t just about giving orders—it’s about anticipating needs, stepping up when challenges arise, and keeping the team focused on the goal. I am truly grateful and blessed to have had the opportunity to work alongside such hardworking men who take pride in their trade.

Hello, my name is Joseph McCormick and I am a senior at Toll Gate High School and in my third year doing Electrical Engineering at the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center. Like Mr, Geremia himself, I’m looking to go through all of the titles in the Electric Field from Apprentice to Master. However, he was a lineman while I am studying to be a residential Electrician. One time that I had to take initiative to lead a group project was working on a house my school donated to a little girl with cancer, when I was installing the internal lights, a lot of my classmates were either not wearing safety glasses to not working so I had each one of them pick a job to do out of the list. Some were doing outlets, some running wire, some helping build. That house was mostly finished within the week and delivering it taught me a lesson that money isn’t always the answer, even though I didn’t make a dime, the look on that little girl’s face was worth more than any paycheck I could’ve gotten. Why I believe the scholarship would be most helpful for me is my financial situation and my needs. Since my parent’s divorce in 2010, money has been tight for me, my dad, and my family, But when I started my job around January 2024, my grandmother who helped pitch in passed away and my father had a stroke which made him unable to get a job so the scholarship would help me be able to put a large sum of money into my career because only one source of income for multiple outcomes has not been easy. I’ve tried helping my little sister’s childhood as much as I can because I feel bad which has been beyond worth it despite the price. The money would first go to fix my car so I have a way to get to work, and the rest will go to tools for me to be able to work in the field of electricity. Overall, if I get the scholarship it would make my career endlessly more possible but if there’s anyone out there who could use it more than me I hope and pray they get it. John Geremia’s career will always live on through this scholarship. Not only who he was, but the hope he’ll reflect onto students.

My name is Gavin Callender and I am a highschool senior. I am a twin and am applying to as many scholarships as possible, to take the finacial stress of sending two kids through college at the same time off of my parents. I have been accepted to Bismarck State College for an associates degree in their Electrical Lineman program. I'm leading a bridge restoration project as a senior project in our small town, and it's been quite the undertaking. Last summer, we had a couple of photographers from Germany who specifically came to take pictures of our bridge. The ongoing challenge has been managing public safety and preventing vandalism or tomfoolery on the bridge. The existing chain link fence has been beat up pretty significantly over the past few years. It has been a very large saftey issue for the town for awhile now. Our team of three is currently working on securing funding to replace the fence with a newer chain link hat will enhance safety and maintain the bridge's aesthetic appeal. We are doing this to preserve a community landmark that means a lot to our residents. We are hoping that a new fence and some matnince on the bridge will stop vandalism and climbing while keeping the bridge's character intact. The project requires careful planning, from selecting appropriate materials to ensuring we meet all necessary safety regulations. It's a complex process, but we're committed to finding a solution that protects both the bridge and our community. Our goal is to transform a potential safety hazard into a well-maintained local asset that we can all be proud of. In the end when we complete refurbishing the fence, it will at least look better. I know there is a very large chance that people will just destroy the new fence just as the old one was. But doing what we can to keep it maintained and opened to the public is the least I can do.

Hello, I am an 18 year old high school student at Toll Gate High School in Warwick Rhode island, I am enrolled in a vocational school revolving around residential electricity. I am actively pursuing a career in residential electricity and after I come home from basic training I will be getting an apprenticeship with an electrician I know. During that apprenticeship I will obtain my 3 years of on-the-job training and hopefully attain more knowledge and experience. Currently, I have a paid internship at Electric Boat in Quonset point RI. Electric Boat is a General Dynamics owned company that specializes in building nuclear submarines for the US Navy. I joined EB as an electrician and I actively work in the electrician unit. There I wire up components to the submarine and make sure the connections are correct. I am very excited for my apprenticeship after school because I very much want to pursue the technologies of electricity. I'm hoping that opportunities out of my career will arise because I would love to go to lineman school just like John Geremia. If I were to receive this blessing of a scholarship would be very important to me because it would ensure that I get the tools that I need to pursue electricity. In order to be successful in the field I would need linesman pliers, wire strippers, screw drivers, and safety glasses. It would also help pay for my college classes for the code book tests, of course that's not including transportation, food, an apartment, ect so this scholarship is a very nice jumpstart to helping me pursue my career. I was never a good classroom kid, I could never focus, I never paid attention, but when I enrolled in my school's vocational program, it changed everything. It gave me a sense of purpose, I never knew what purpose was until I had a pair of linesman pliers in my hand. It was that helping hand I never had. I love hands-on work. It's the only way I can work and focus and thrive. I hope to receive this scholarship in John's memory, because that is what I would want to happen to me. I also hope to give back to the community and be a thriving, honest electrician to help those in need. My school's trade program has changed my life, I hope this scholarship can too.