Wyomingites aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and do what needs to be done, which is why four Cowboy State students are among the latest round of work ethic scholarship winners from the mikeroweWORKS Foundation.
Mike Rowe, the host of the popular Discovery Channel series “Dirty Jobs,” established the scholarship in 2020 to promote apprentice programs and trade schools, filling what he calls a "critical skill gap" in careers like plumbing, carpentry and other trades.
More importantly, it rewards people who demonstrate a strong work ethic.
The Wyomingites in the class of recipients announced this week are Stockton Buck, Rachel Lear, Gracee Painter and Carson Holmes. They are putting their scholarships toward their burgeoning careers in the trades.
Cowboy State Daily caught up with two of those new scholarship winners.
Work Now, Teach Later
Rachel Lear, 19, grew up in Cody and is pursuing a two-year construction technology degree at Sheridan College. She's been fascinated by construction her whole life.
"My dad and I were into tiny houses when I was a kid," she told Cowboy State Daily. "We were obsessed with designing our own tiny house. (Then) I started taking wood shop and construction classes when I got into high school, then started a class where we learned how to build a tiny house after high school. That inspired me to keep going."
Lear applied for a Work Ethic Scholarship at the beginning of 2024. She recognized that the program was an opportunity for her to get much-needed support to continue pursuing her passion.
"I still have a lot of classes I need to take next year, so I was really looking for some help," she said.
After a lengthy application process, which includes essays and a video, she learned she was selected for a scholarship Monday. The money she receives will help her finish classes at Sheridan College and get an associate of Fine Arts degree in Construction Technology.
"I'm hoping to go into the construction field (after college,)" she said. "I'm also planning to get my Bachelor of Applied Science through the University of Wyoming to get a teaching degree for shop classes. I want to start in the construction field while I'm young, but I want the opportunity to teach later in my life."
Guaranteed Jobs
Stockton Buck, 19, grew up in Powell and is now enrolled in Caterpillar's ThinkBIG program at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, North Dakota. This was his second Work Ethic Scholarship from the mikeroweWORKS Foundation.
"My goal was to graduate college debt-free," he said. "I've applied for as many scholarships as I can find that apply to me. My uncle had mentioned something about the Mike Rowe scholarship, so I looked into it and actually I received it last year as well."
Buck said the ThinkBIG curriculum is all about Caterpillar equipment. He's been studying the company's technology to operate and maintain its machinery, making future technicians "the best fit for Caterpillar."
Buck has also been working with Butler Machinery while he's completing the program. The scholarships have helped him develop the skills and relationships that will guarantee him a job once he graduates.
"I have a contract to work for Butler Machinery for three years after I graduate, so I have a guaranteed job after graduation," he said. "I'm hoping to work for Butler for those three years and possibly longer. Then, I guess see where my career will take me."
Buck credits the Work Ethic Scholarships for being a huge help to him and his family as he pursues his education and future career.
"It gives me more time to focus on my education without the stress of (wondering) how I am going to pay for it," he said. "For me and my parents, as well."
SWEAT Pledge
Both Buck and Lear mentioned Rowe's Skills & Work Ethic Aren't Taboo (SWEAT) pledge as something they identified.
The pledge is Rowe's version of the Ten Commandments, governing the philosophy behind his foundation and the Work Ethic Scholarship.
"All of (Rowe's) morals and the SWEAT pledge that he runs the scholarship off of just seemed to fit well with everything I'm doing for school and work," Buck said.
"We had to record a video about yourself talking about the SWEAT pledge for the application," Lear added. "This (scholarship) is perfect, and I knew I fit into the program."
Buck and Lear will be graduating in the next school year.
Their pragmatism and dedication will ensure they both have promising careers ahead of them, thanks in part to the support of the Work Ethic Scholarships they earned and applied to the education they'll use for the rest of their lives.
Buck, Lear, Painter and Holmes join 13 other Wyoming residents who were awarded Mike Rowe scholarships earlier this year.
This latest round of scholarships is distributing $2.4 million nationwide and continues a mission Rowe has said is important on a fundamental level for the United States.
It’s also personal.
“My mother’s dad dropped out of the eighth grade to work,” he has said. “He had to. By the time he was 30, he was a master electrician, plumber, carpenter, mason, mechanic. That guy was to me a magician.”
Rowe has couched his work ethic mission as making it honorable again.
“Dirt used to be a badge of honor,” he said. “Dirt used to look like work. But we’ve scrubbed the dirt off the face of work, and consequently we’ve created this suspicion of anything that’s too dirty.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
