TEXAS NEIGHBORS | WINTER 2020 TFB scholarships available to Texas students Texas youth are future leaders and innovators for the state and nation. They have opportunities for growth, education and leadership to help them explore a bright new world, but sometimes they need a helping hand. That’s why Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) invests in youth, de-voting large amounts of money and time to develop leader-ship skills at a young age. That investment comes through scholarships at the state and county levels. “Each year, we award more than $200,000 in scholar-ships at the state level, and over $360,000 in scholarships is given each year through county Farm Bureaus,” Mia Balko, director of Youth Outreach, said. “Those come in a variety of packages in an effort to meet different student needs.” Applicants must create an account and register through the MyTFB Membership portal at my.texasfarmbureau.org. Once there, navigate to registration, and select 2020 schol-arships from the list. All scholarships require the student to be part of a TFB member-family to qualify, and membership must be main-tained for the duration of the scholarship. The deadline to apply and submit a completed applica-tion online is March 2 before midnight. Visit www.texasfarmbureau.org/youth/youth-opportuni-ties for more information and the scholarship application checklist. Contact Balko at mbalko@txfb.org with questions. Dick Mitchell Scholarship This $1,000 scholarship is awarded to one high school ju-nior or senior who has attended the TFB Youth Leadership Conference. Young Farmer & Rancher Scholarship High school seniors interested in a future in agriculture are eligible for TFB’s Young Farmer & Rancher scholarship. Each of TFB’s 13 districts will award one $1,000 scholarship. Memorial/Honorary and District Scholarships In each of the 13 TFB districts, four students will be award-ed $1,500 scholarships. Three students from each district also will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship. Young Farmer & Rancher Enrolled Scholarship The YF&R Enrolled Scholarship is for students already in college. Applicants must have a minimum of 45 credit hours and a GPA of 2.5 or higher to qualify. Three $2,000 YF&R enrolled scholarships will be awarded. Student Teaching Award Four senior Agricultural Education students will receive the Texas Farm Bureau Student Teaching Award each se-mester. The scholarships, valued at $2,500, aims to help students cover expenses during their spring semester of off-campus student teaching. Students who will be student teaching off-campus in fall 2020 or spring 2021 are encour-aged to apply. This year, there will only be one application period. TSTC Scholarships TFB has made scholarship funds available to first-year and enrolled students attending Texas State Technical Col-lege (TSTC). Fifty $1,000 scholarships are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis through the Texan Success Scholarship. There are also five $1,000 scholarships for TFB members entering their second year at TSTC. Another $5,000 is available through the “helping hands” scholarship, which is meant to help students with unexpected costs that are not usually covered by traditional scholarships. S.M. True Jr. Agricultural Scholar Award To acknowledge former TFB President S.M. True Jr., a $20,000 scholarship was established for college students with at least 60 hours of college credit and declared agri-culture as their major. Applicants must submit a completed application and two letters of recommendation—one from the county Farm Bureau president and one from the dean or head of the agricultural department of the applicant’s college or university. Students are encouraged to apply at the end of their sophomore year for TFB’s most prestigious scholarship. WWW.TEXASFARMBUREAU.ORG