Summary
The Suffolk Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) Master Gardeners will award one $1000 scholarship to help support the education of future horticultural leaders by supporting a graduate of a Suffolk Public High School or home school with residence in Suffolk, pursuing a degree in horticultural resources and related studies. The funding is made possible and fully funded by the Suffolk Master Gardener Association.
Objective
The Suffolk VCE Master Gardeners’ objective in offering the scholarship is to assist in the education of a student who has graduated from a Suffolk Public High School or home school, with residence in Suffolk, and is pursuing studies in areas related to the goals of our Association.
Who can Apply
The Suffolk VCE Master Gardeners encourage all eligible individuals who have been accepted into or are currently attending an accredited college, university, or technical school that have graduated from a Suffolk Public High School or home school with residence in Suffolk to apply. Appropriate curricula for applicants must stress subjects related to horticulture, conservation, environmental outreach, and empowering communities in these areas.
When to Apply
Applications may be submitted beginning January 1st but no later than April 1st, the cutoff date.
How To Apply – Summary Checklist
To ensure your application will be accepted, we have provided this handy summary checklist to help you submit a fully completed application:
1. Download the Application Form Instructions and the Application Form. 2. Using a free PDF (portable document format) reader such as Adobe Reader©, open the application form instructions and read them carefully, then open the application form and fill in the Contact Info on Sheet#1; fill in Honors and Extracurricular activities, Work
History, and Career Plans on Sheet#2; and write an essay “How would this scholarship benefit me and How does horticulture fit into my future plans.” on Sheet#3.
3. Save the modified application form (by doing a “save as” from within your PDF reader with a filename of your choosing, specifying a file extension of “.pdf”. Note: The Adobe license that permits you to save the data to a file in this manner is imbedded in the form itself.
4. When you are ready to submit your application, email the PDF file that you just created to our email address SuffolkMG@gmail.com as an attachment. (Note: less preferably, you can print a blank form, fill it in non-cursively with a pen and mail it via USPS to our address: “Attention: Scholarship Committee Chairman; Suffolk VCE Master Gardeners; P.O. Box 126, Suffolk VA 23439, postmarked by April 1st)
5. Send your current grade transcript (either official or unofficial, both are acceptable) to either our email address SuffolkMG@gmail.com or to our USPS address shown above.
6. Request two references from persons unrelated to you who can speak of your character, leadership, and academic ability. At least one (1) of these references must be from a school counselor or teacher. Send these references to either our email address or USPS address shown above. If you have any questions, please contact Scholarship Chairman at SuffolkMG@gmail.com.
Award Selection Process
The association scholarship committee, comprised of three chapter members in good standing and the chapter Treasurer, will review, score, and rank all accepted scholarship applications objectively to reach a consensus on the winning nomination. These will be presented to the Board of Directors by the Scholarship Chairperson for approval at the May board meeting. The winner will be presented with their award at the June meeting of the Suffolk VCE Master Gardeners.