River Dow, a 2025 Tarkio High School graduate and current student at Iowa Western majoring in aviation maintenance, was recently named one of 526 men and women nationwide who earned a 2025 Work Ethic Scholarship from the Mike Rowe Works Foundation.

Each year, the foundation gives away money through the Work Ethic Scholarship Program to help people get trained for skilled jobs that are in demand. “We’ve proven that opportunities in the trades aren’t alternatives to viable careers – they are viable careers. Through this program, we encourage people to learn a useful skill, and we reward those who demonstrate that they’ll work their butts off. When it comes to hard work, there is no alternative. Since our inception, we’ve granted $11 million in work ethic scholarships.” This was one of the most competitive years to date for the scholarship, which required River to spend at least 10 hours filling out paperwork, making a video, and preparing for a follow up. But as Mike Rowe and the foundation has proven, hard work pays off.