The Scholarship Committee recommended and the Board of Directors has approved the awarding of five Garden Club of Austin scholarships for the 2010-2011 school year to the following students:
Keely Troetschel, who is from Buda, will be a senior at Texas A&M majoring in horticulture. She has a GPA of 3.84 and is a member of both the Agriculture Honor Society and the Horticulture Honor Society. She is active in the A&M horticulture club and also works as a freelance horticultural copywriter. Keely currently holds one of our scholarships and some of you may have met her when she attended the December awards banquet. She was awarded a scholarship of $1750.
Lindsey Felps, who is from Round Rock, will be a sophomore at Texas A&M majoring in horticulture. Lindsey was awarded a club scholarship last year, but other scholarships she received completely covered her tuition and fees. Since our scholarship only covers tuition and fees, she was unable to use it and turned the money back. At A&M Lindsey has a GPA of 3.60. She has stared a project to establish a community garden in Bryan/College Station to benefit the homeless. A possible location has been identified, so this worthwhile project is still in its early stages. She volunteers with the Baptist Student Ministry in College Station, working with elementary school children and has gone twice to Mexico with her church to help build housing for a homeless family. After graduation Lindsey hopes to own her own greenhouses. Lindsey was awarded a scholarship of $1750.
Acension Fierro will graduate from Smithville High School this spring. He will attend Texas A&M to study for a degree in landscape architecture. His twin brother will also enter college this fall. Acension (Ace) is an Eagle Scout who has done numerous service projects in his community. He worked to provide solar lighting and landscaping for six flagpoles owned by the Fire Department, churches and service organizations in Smithville. He built new walkways for the American Legion. His Eagle Scout project was the collection of hand-me-down books that were channeled to suitable recipients through the Friends of the Smithville Library. He has been trained as a Peer Mediation Specialist and works in his school to help with conflict mediation. Ace was captain of both the football and the basketball teams. He was an all district football player and was named outstanding player of the week for the state of Texas in 3-A. His career goal is to be the liaison between the architect on a building project and the construction supervisor, working on the selection, installation and long term viability of landscape elements of a building project. Ace was awarded a scholarship of $1000.
Jorge Espinoza, who is from Austin, will be a senior at Texas A&M majoring in horticulture. He is active in the A&M Horticulture Club and also works with the Replant Club which focuses on the beautification of Bryan/College Station. Jorge grew up in a migrant farm working family. His father died when he was quite young leaving his mother to raise four children. Jorge has worked in both general construction and landscape construction. He is fluent in both Spanish and English and will be the first in his family to graduate from college. His career goal is to manage either a vineyard or a citrus farm. Jorge was awarded a scholarship of $1000.
Marshall Burdick will graduate from Georgetown High School this spring with a GPA of 3.35. He has applied to both Texas A&M and Tarleton State but had not made a final decision about where to attend at the time the scholarship committee met. His mother is a single parent with three high school age children., so attending college at all will depend to some extend on the scholarship help Marshall receives. Marshall took all the horticulture classes available in high school and worked part-time in the summer for a landscape company. Marshall has served on the Teen Advisory Board for the Georgetown Public Library and participated in Brown Santa and in food drives for the animal shelter. He plays the violin and has won honors in UIL events in both solo and ensemble competitions. He plans to major in biology with a concentration in plant science and plant physiology. Marshall was awarded a scholarship of $500.
Norman Wagner chairs the Scholarship Committee and Beverly Bardsley, Jane Faust, Peggy Stewart and Barbara Wagner are members. I think I speak for all committee members when I say that serving on the committee is one of the most rewarding jobs in our garden club. Reading applications and seeing the willingness of young people to devote their time and talent to helping others is wonderful. Encountering the level of need that exists, especially in this rough economy, is sobering. Seeing the obstacles some students have had to overcome to pursue their dreams is inspiring. Seeing how focused and organized some of the students are is remarkable. We love the camaraderie of our meetings and would welcome the addition of one or two new members to our ranks. If anyone is interested in being nominated to serve on this committee, please contact Norm Wagner. Money for our scholarship awards comes from the accrued interest on our scholarship endowment fund.
Beverly Bardsley
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