Coal Mining Families Send Two Students to College

Two students from coal mining families are heading to college this fall, thanks to scholarships honoring the legacy of their grandfathers' work underground.

Kaylee Rutherford and Aiden Clark both grew up watching their grandfathers and great-grandfathers work in the mines. Now they're using scholarships from the United Mine Workers of America to build futures dedicated to serving others.

Kaylee, from southwest Virginia, plans to study Rehabilitative Health Sciences at East Tennessee State University. Her goal is to earn a master's in Communicative Disorders and bring speech therapy services back to her local community.

"I am confident with this contribution towards my education that I will be successful in my endeavors," Kaylee said. She grew up understanding the value of fair wages and safe workplaces, lessons passed down through three generations of mining families.

Aiden Clark is heading to the University of Kentucky to study history, with his sights set on law school. Both of his grandfathers spent their entire careers in the mines, providing for their families through decades of hard work.

He wants to become a family law attorney and eventually open his own practice. "I plan on working my way up, just as my grandfathers did," Aiden said.

The Ripple Effect

The Lorin E. Kerr Scholarships do more than fund education. They transform the sacrifices of mining families into new opportunities for service. Kaylee will help people communicate. Aiden hopes to strengthen labor protections for workers like his grandfathers.

Both students carry forward the union values they learned at home: hard work, fairness, and fighting for others. Their grandfathers worked underground to provide better futures. Now that investment is paying forward into careers built on helping entire communities.

One generation's dedication in the mines becomes another generation's commitment to healing and justice.