Tideland Electric Membership Corporation recently selected eight area high-school seniors who will each receive a $1,000 nonrenewable college scholarship.

Funding is provided by the co-op’s nonprofit foundation, the Tideland Electric Care Trust.

Winners in the Washington Daily News readership area are Thaddeus Van Essendelft, Heather Gill, Laura Basnight, Hannah Byrd and Jessica Bagley.

Van Essendelft, a senior at Terra Ceia Christian School, will attend Dordt College in Iowa, where he will major in civil engineering. He is the son of Bernie and the late Monique Van Essendelft.

Gill and Basnight will graduate from Mattamuskeet High School. Gill will attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she plans to study speech therapy. She is the daughter of Lawrence and Mary Gill of Swan Quarter. Basnight plans to pursue a double major in history and business at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Her parents are Edward and Tina Basnight of Swan Quarter.

Byrd and Bagley will attend Beaufort County Community College following graduation from Pungo Christian Academy. Byrd will pursue a college-transfer degree. She is the daughter of Anson and Lora Byrd of Fairfield. Bagley will study business administration. She is the daughter of Leroy and Sherry Stotesbury of Pantego.

Tideland EMC is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative serving 22,800 accounts in six eastern North Carolina counties.