As a veteran teacher, Farmer's RECC member Steve Kistler had given decades of his life to educate the youth in his adopted home of Hart Conty. 

But he was witnessing an injustice every year as some of his bright, hard-working and accomplished students were struggling to get to the next level of education - whether it be trade school or college - because of the costs. 

He decided to do something about it. 

Kistler is the 2024 third-place winner in the Kentucky's Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Who Powers You contest. He'll receive a $250 check for his work. 

In 2015, Kistler and a small group of like-minded people started the Hart County Scholarship Alliance, a non-profit that sought donations to help deserving hart County students with scholarships. He's still serving as executive director of the nonprofit. 

"We got a board together and we started asking people for money, and it was way more generous than we anticipated," Kistler said. "In the first year we for five or six thousand dollars in donations and we were thrilled."

In 2023, though, the scholarship contributions grew to $50,000 per year. Over the course of the last 10 years, The Hart County Scholarship Alliance has provided nearly half a million dollars toward educational scholarships for Hart County students.

"The more education you can pour into a community, the better it's got to be for everybody," he said. 

Now retired and working on a number of philanthropic projects, Kistler said the scholarships have evolved over the years to get the most bang for the buck, which means focusing on dual-credit scholarships for juniors and seniors with the scores to go to college. 

"A three-hour class runs $275. And if you're taking eight classes, all of a sudden that's a pretty good chuck of change," Kistler said. The same classes in college could run more than $1,000. 

Hart County Junior Amy Arce Santamaria is one of the scholarship recipients. She's currently taking four dual-credit courses, on top of the four she took her sophomore year. Her goal is to eventually be a physician's assistant. "It's helping me get a head start on college and it's helped me to think about my education without having the finance added to it. It lets me think more about my education before I have to think about the money," Santamaria said. She's following in her brother's footsteps, who was a scholarship recipient and is about to start medical school, graduated early from Berea College, and had earned 77 college credit hours in high school. 

"This is our tenth year and some of the kids have gone through college and started their careers. And they stay in touch," Kistler said. 

The Scholarship Alliance's co-founder Melody Chaney got involved from the very beginning, but had not background in education. Instead, she was speaking to Kistler's gifted and talented students about financial planning as an Edward Jones employee. 

"I was always amazed because the kids in those classes were so talented. And I was amazed at how many people we had here that had the ability to do some great things," Chaney said. "Steve came in my office one day and said, 'I have an idea' and I said I love it."

She had worked with a number of students in her financial advisor capacity who had the talent and ability to go to college or vocational schools, but would have been first generation college students, and had no one to help guide them in taking the steps. 

"it's been amazing how the community has supported us and how easy it's been to help the students, especially with the dual-credit program," Chaney said. 

When the program started, the dual-credit offerings were slim, but as the Scholarship Alliance funding has grown over time, so too have the number of classes offered to scholarship recipients. 

"Those courses are raising the level of curriculum these kids are taking in high school, so now their ACT scores are better, and I'm sure they're more confident. It's had a compounding effect," Chaney said. 

"Mr. Kistler is simply irreplaceable in the Hart County community. His passion for helping students achieve higher education has made a lasting impact on many Hart Countians' lives," said Abigail Nuetzman, who nominated Kistler. 

Kistler explained the genesis of the program as "Something that just needed doing." But his decision to step forward to do it continues to reverberate through Hart County. 

Nominate someone making a difference in the 2025 contest during the month of October at www.WhoPowersYouKy.com