Submitted photo Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School Junior Karlee Prahl is one of five high school juniors awarded a 2024 Minnesota Association of Townships Scholarship of $2,000. She is the daughter of Brenda and Donovan Prahl of New Ulm.

NEW ULM — Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School junior Karlee Prahl was recently named among five high school juniors winning a $2,000 Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT) Scholarship.

The daughter of Brenda and Donovan Prahl of New Ulm, Karlee Prahl has many interests and ambitions.

“I enjoy studying anatomy and science besides playing tennis, softball, walking, working as a waitress at George’s Steak House in New Ulm and spending time with family and friends,” said Prahl.

She also said she enjoys lifting weights and running several times a week.

A member of the Minnesota Air National Gaurd 133rd Airlift Wing, she is interested in studying exercise science at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities or Duluth and becoming a flight medic.

“Military service is part of my family. My two older brothers are in the Air Force. One is a flight medic. My sister is an Army dental technician. Another sibling is in administration,” said Prahl.

All students enrolled in 11th grade and attending a Minnesota public, private, or parochial school, or a home-study program, are eligible for the scholarship program. Winners are chosen by an independent panel of judges.

The 2024 MAT essay question was “Describe ways in which broadband internet access improves the lives of rural residents. What challenges exist in providing broadband internet in rural areas? 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?”

After doing online research, Prahl wrote an essay about how internet access improves rural life, what challenges exist and what policies could ensure equal internet access. She wrote that internet access holds immense potential to transform the lives of rural residents across the country by bringing improvements in education, healthcare, economic opportunities, communication, information access, emergency services, entertainment and community development.

She wrote that the internet can open up avenues for remote, online work including entrepreneurship, precision farming technology to increase productivity and communication during emergencies.

Prahl concluded her essay with this quote, “Policies should be established at all levels of government that allow internet connectivity to be affordable and accessible to everyone.”

Other 2024 MAT scholarship winners were Benjamin Suo of St. Cloud, Stearns County; Connor Murdoff, Steamboat River Township, Hubbard County; Hadli Krog, Diamond Lake Township, Lincoln County; and Lucia Buttram, Eden Prairie.

For more information including the 2025 MAT scholarship question about rural fire protection, visit www.mntownships.org.