PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Local Scholarships Available
SEMINOLE, TX (January 18, 2016) – Attention all Gaines County graduating seniors! The Llano Estacado Underground Water Conservation District is conducting a local scholarship essay contest. Applicants do not need to be involved in agriculture to apply. Any student interested in furthering his/her education is encouraged to apply.
One first place winner in the amount of $1,000 and one second place winner in the amount of $500 will be awarded from qualifying applications received from each local high school – Loop High School, Seagraves High School, and Seminole High School – for a total of $4,500 in scholarship monies available to local seniors! In order to apply, applicants must complete an essay addressing the water related topic as described below. All submissions received will be screened based on criteria as noted. If you have questions, please contact your school counselor or the Southern Ogallala Education and Outreach Coordinator.
Essay Topic for 2016: “Texas, as well as many other states, have experienced record drought. As we head into the fall/winter months, El Niño is expected to strongly impact weather systems across the country. With the potential to collect so much precipitation from the El Niño weather patterns, is rainwater harvesting a viable method of water conservation on the South Plains of Texas? Why or why not?”.
The criteria for the contest is:
- The essay must have a minimum of 500 words and maximum of 650 words.
- The essay must be typed and double-spaced in MLA format.
- References must accompany paper in the form of a works cited page.
(The library and Internet offer many resources.)
- The essay must have a cover sheet containing the following: student’s name, essay title, local high school, and date.
- The essay entries are due no later than Friday, February 12, 2016.
Scholarship presentations will be made during each local high school’s senior awards assembly. Recipients will also be notified individually if awarded a scholarship.
For further information, please contact your local UWCD district office, LEUWCD at 432-758-1127 or email the education coordinator, Michelle Cooper, at savegroundwater@gmail.com.



