Champion Energy is committed to supporting our community as we work to power lives and businesses. The Champion Scholars program was created to recognize those that share this commitment. Now in its tenth year, we’re proud to announce that this program has awarded $100,000 in scholarships to 30 deserving students looking to further their education.

This year we received applications from many impressive students across Texas. Applications were evaluated based on academic performance, awards, volunteerism and an essay response to one of the prompts below:

Prompt 1: Reflect on a time when you experienced adversity. Describe what you learned or gained from that experience.

Prompt 2: Describe your plans for the future. If you are awarded this scholarship, how will this money help you accomplish those future plans?

Prompt 3: When we think of a champion, we often think of a person who has beaten all of their competition to win, but “champion” can also be used as a verb meaning “to support or defend.” What is something that you champion in your life? This could be a cause or a person or a belief. Why is it important to you to champion that cause, person or belief?

We are very proud to recognize the Champion Scholars for 2025:

$5,000 Award - Sreenishant (Nishant) Gadde

Nishant Gadde is the recipient of the $5,000 Champion Scholars award. He graduated from Jordan High School in Katy, TX.

Nishant has a passion for sustainability that led him to recognize the issue of millions of tennis balls being discarded every year, which contributes to the growing issue of pollution and landfill waste. In response to this, he became a co-founder of acecycle.org, an organization focused on recycling tennis balls and reducing environmental impact. Since his team began acecycle.org, 450,000 tennis balls from local businesses, schools, and tennis centers have been collected and revived.

While a champion of sustainability, Nishant is also tech savvy. He has used his knowledge of computer engineering to develop tracking technology to support acecycle.org. This technology allows both users and stores to monitor their carbon footprints in real-time, providing valuable insights into their environmental impact.

In his free time, Nishant likes to play tennis and basketball. He also enjoys building algorithms that can be used to make predictions from datasets. When asked what he will miss most, Nishant expressed that he will miss his teachers who inspired him to learn and improve as a student.

Nishant plans to study Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in the fall while also working as a tutor at a local tutoring center to both teach and improve his math and physics skills. He is currently looking for internships that will be beneficial to his education.

Quote from Nishant:

“To champion a cause means to support it tirelessly and passionately, and for me, this commitment stems from a belief in our collective responsibility to safeguard our planet. Through acecycle.org, I have been privileged to see how sustainability can inspire others to make impactful changes. This experience continually reinforces my dedication to advocating for a more sustainable, environmentally responsible future, ensuring that the positive changes we make today benefit future generations. ”

$3,000 Award - Zoë Chandler

Zoë Chandler is the recipient of the $3,000 Champion Scholars award. She attended Midlothian Heritage High School in Midlothian, TX.

While attending the Texas A&M Society of Women Engineers' High School Conference, Zoë had the opportunity to sit in a nuclear engineering class. From then on, she became hooked on all things nuclear engineering. She has a particular interest in fusion, specifically as applied to hybrid fission-fusion reactors, which she believes can help provide clean and affordable energy.

What initially brought Zoë to engineering was her love of math, physics, and creativity. She plans to use this creativity to resolve some of the engineering related challenges surrounding fusion. To her, fusion represents a miracle of modern science.

When asked what she will miss most, Zoë said she will miss her friends and the small town feel of her community.

Zoë also enjoys knitting, playing old school text-based adventure games, playing guitar, and hiking in her free time.

Zoë plans to attend Texas A&M to study nuclear engineering, followed by a doctorate. Her goal is to work at one of the national laboratories to study fusion energy.

Quote from Zoë:

“No matter what I do, I want to make a difference in the lives of the people around me for the better, whether that role includes researching new fusion technology or working on improving the existing energy infrastructure. As long as I can challenge myself and help make the world a better place, I will be happy and fulfilled.”

$2,000 Award – Soohyeon Kim

Soohyeon Kim is the recipient of the $2,000 Champion Scholars award. He graduated from the Brook Hill School in Bullard, TX.

Soohyeon is a passionate advocate for human rights. He has assisted with the campaigning and fundraising events supporting Burmese civilians facing brutality and hardship from Myanmar’s current political climate. Working with both Korean and Texan volunteers he coordinated film contests, asking people to film short clips about the sufferings of the Burmese civilians to increase awareness of the conflict.

In addition to his advocacy events, Soohyeon spends his free time watching movies and exploring new places. When asked what he will miss most as he heads off to college Soohyeon stated that he will miss his church community, his friends, and performing in musicals and plays.

Soohyeon has a keen interest in software programming and AI, and will be pursuing a degree in computer science at the University of Texas at Austin.

Quote from Soohyeon:

“I was always interested in developing software programs and artificial intelligence. But I never had the opportunity to learn it in depth. Programs at UT Austin will be an excellent opportunity for me.”