TEXAS NEIGHBORS | WINTER 2019 Scholarship opportunities help Texas Farm Bureau members and select 2019 scholarships from the list. All scholarships require the student to be part of a member-family to qualify, and member-ship must be maintained for the duration of the scholarship. The deadline to apply and submit a completed application online is March 1 before mid-night. Click here for more informa-tion on TFB’s scholarship oppor-tunities. 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 Con-ference. Young Farmer & Rancher Scholarship High school seniors interest-ed 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 awarded $1,500 scholarships. Three stu-dents from each district also will be awarded a $1,000 scholar-ship. Students must have com-pleted a community service project promoting agriculture or Texas Farm Bureau to be eligible. 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 Educa-tion students will receive the Tex-as Farm Bureau Student Teaching Award. The scholarships, valued at $2,500, aims to help students cover expenses during their spring semester of off-campus student teaching. This scholar-ship will also be offered in the fall, and announcements will be made at that time. TSTC Scholarships TFB has made scholarship funds available to first-year and enrolled students attending Texas By Julie Tomascik Editor Texas youth are future leaders and innovators for the state and nation. They have opportunities for growth, education and lead-ership to help them explore a bright new world, but some-times they need a helping hand. That’s why Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) invests in youth, devoting large amounts of money and time to develop leadership skills at a young age. That investment comes through scholarships at the state and county levels. “Annually, we award schol-arships totaling more than $200,000 at the state level, and over $360,000 in scholarships is given each year through county Farm Bureaus,” Mia Balko, direc-tor of Youth and Urban Outreach, said. “Those come in a variety of packages in an effort to meet different student needs.” Applicants must create an ac-count and register through the MyTFB Membership portal at my.texasfarmbureau.org. Once there, navigate to registration, WWW.TEXASFARMBUREAU.ORG State Technical College (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 de-clared agriculture as their major. Applicants must submit a com-pleted application and two letters of recommendation—one from the county Farm Bureau presi-dent and one from the dean or head of the agricultural depart-ment of the applicant’s college or university. Students are encour-aged to apply at the end of their sophomore year for TFB’s most prestigious scholarship.