Fischer Jeanes’ Scholarship Story

Fischer Jeanes is a 2024 Cedarcrest High School (CHS) Graduate and Tanner Electric Cooperative Scholarship recipient. Over the summer, he has been up to having a lot of fun, and adulting. He rode his dirt bike and mountain bike… broke both… but then fixed both! Beyond the bike adventures, Fischer also just set up his apartment in Bellingham and is planning to start working as a part-time deckhand for Island Opportunity Charters while he goes to school.

Bellingham Technical College (BTC) is where he will be this fall, pursuing the AAS Electrician program there. “I will get my AA college degree, learn how to be an electrician, and get ‘on the job’ training hours at the same time,” Fischer said.  It is a program that runs for five quarters, where he will spend half of the time learning in hands-on high-tech labs and the other half of the time with classroom instruction. After he graduates, he will go into a paid electrician apprenticeship.

Fischer’s gravitation to the trades after graduating high school was natural. “I don’t like sitting around, and honestly, I don’t really like school. I like learning though,” he said. He enjoys working with his hands, and specifically learning while doing. He also appreciates how the trades offer a specific path to get trained in a specific, practical, and useful skill.  “I think our country can use more skilled workers and working in the trades will make me feel useful, like I am contributing,” Fischer said.

We often hear from students about the stress, anxiety, and toll of applying to four-year colleges in pursuit of their bachelor’s degree. Fischer had a very pleasantly different experience, though. He applied in just five minutes online. The process was so feasible that his friend submitted his application to BTC in the car, from the passenger seat while Fischer drove the two of them to the information night at the college last spring. With schools that are open admission like BTC, students just have to complete all the admission steps, and Fischer stresses, “You just have to want it.”

For vocational schools, he expressed that the application process is about tracking the admissions deadlines and following instructions, like sending his transcript, completing pre-placement tests, and setting up appointments with his advisor to be ready for enrollment, then registering for classes. Fischer also found it helpful to go to the BTC information night and tour the school last spring—he got to see the labs and meet the instructors for a few different programs. “That is my tip for other students looking to apply to occupational or vocational schools—sign up for the information nights and tour the schools in early spring.”

Fischer also focused on the process for finding scholarships, which mainly he heard about by word of mouth from the community. CHS counselors told him about the Dollars For Scholars scholarship pool for kids in the Snoqualmie Valley.  He was awarded the $500 Rotary scholarship for occupational students. Then the PTSA posted on the CHS PTSA Facebook page about the Empower Youth Network $1,000 scholarship with Tanner Electric which was specific for kids like him, interested in being an electrician!  His family friend, Kappie Ayers, knew he wanted to be an electrician, so she messaged Fischer to let him know about the opportunity. He thanks her for that.

He also toured a vocational school last year and the instructor happened to mention the Mike Rowe Work Ethic (Dirty Jobs) Scholarship for trade students. That was all it took for Fischer to go ahead, check out the application on the website, and apply. He said the application was a lot of work, but he was awarded a full year of tuition ($7,000 to be exact), so it was totally worth it. Important to note is that Fischer was one of 300 students in the U.S. to receive the Work Ethic Scholarship from the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, which he expressed made him feel special. “I know I am a good bet.  I have the hands-on talent and problem-solving skills to be good at this career,” Fischer said. He was also awarded a $1,900 scholarship through Bellingham Technical College Foundation. Fischer jumped at opportunities for scholarships, and his approach has paid off.

Once he finishes the program at BTC, he wants to continue learning more skills in an electrician apprenticeship.  “I think I will be exposed to the various career options while I am in school so I can figure out what specific direction I want to go in later,’ he said. But he has a feeling that will be in the direction of a journeyman level electrician, which will take him a few years.

In finding his purpose, he also believes the people of the valley have contributed. “Growing up in a smaller town, I felt like the adults were looking out for me,” Fischer said. His shop teacher and little league baseball coaches especially helped him find his path, even providing solid references for his scholarships. He is so grateful to them.

There were also challenges along the way. Fischer expressed it would be good to have more role models visible in the community for people to consider the trades more. He also expressed that he wished to hear more success stories, “I rarely hear what other CHS graduates end up doing with their degrees.”

Fischer also hopes more high schoolers will realize there is demand for skilled workers and that there are so many good job options. “I have heard other kids who graduate from college sometimes struggle to find a good job, but trades people get hired,” he expressed. Fischer thinks it is worth digging around on technical or occupational school websites—from there students can discover so many programs, certifications, and one-year or two-year degrees to look into.

Becky Jeanes, Fischer’s mother, also shared her perspective as a parent about the process of helping her son find his path. “We did all the research on our own,” she said. Becky thinks it would be nice to have more support for kids who want to pursue apprenticeships. Another challenge she pointed out is that she feels “hands-on kids” are usually less inclined to go online and research or write scholarship essays. “It would be great to close this gap somehow.  Make it more accessible, meet kids where they are, maybe require a video essay instead of a written essay for scholarships. There is just a huge gap in supporting trade school kids in finding their path,” she said.

Fischer’s advice for high schoolers is to figure out a plan before they graduate. “Just pick something and don’t second guess it. Getting trained in something is better than doing nothing, even if you don’t really know what you want to do for a career,” Fischer said. He wanted to make it clear that future graduates do not have to have it all figured out or think they will get stuck in a career—but rather to just got for it, try something new, start finding their purpose through experience and action. Fischer also explained there are not many electrician programs, and they are popular, so the classes fill up quickly. “I had my application steps done so I was ready to register for classes the second they opened up,” he said.

After completing the whole process of applying for scholarships, researching schools, looking into programs, and overcoming challenges, Fischer is ready to start his next chapter. “It feels good to know what my path is.  I feel like I am set up for success.  It feels like I am doing something intentional with my life, instead of just hoping something will happen. I feel like I am making it happen,” he said.

Empower Youth Network (EYN) thanks Fischer Jeanes for all his service over the years to empower and inspire youth in Snoqualmie Valley. EYN wishes him all the best in his studies at Bellingham Technical College.