Lucia (Lucy) Buttram of Eden Prairie is one of five high school juniors selected as winners of the Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT) 2024 Scholarship, which includes an essay contest component. Each winner received a $2,000 scholarship.
The 2024 essay topic was broadband; students received the following writing prompt: “Describe ways in which broadband Internet access improves the lives of rural residents. What challenges exist in providing broadband Internet in rural areas? And what policies should governments at all levels (federal, state, and local) adopt to ensure that regardless of geographic location all Americans have equal access to broadband Internet?”
Buttram concluded her winning essay, published on the MAT website, as follows: “Broadband Internet access is a cultural necessity that thousands of rural Minnesotans lack. In order to provide access, governments on all levels could adopt policies that support small municipal networks, rather than directing funds toward monopolistic companies. For rural residents, broadband means far more than simply access to social media platforms or daily news feed. It will give all Minnesotans a door into the economy.”
All students currently enrolled in 11th grade at a Minnesota public, private, or parochial school, or a home-study program, were eligible to apply for the program. Applicants submitted essays demonstrating critical thinking on the topic of promoting awareness of township government. Winners were selected by an independent panel of judges this past summer and announced at MAT’s annual conference in December 2024. Buttram is a homeschool student from Eden Prairie.
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