LAKEPORT >> The Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture (LCCWA) announced the scholarship recipients for the 2015-2016 academic year. Each spring, the LCCWA offers scholarships up to $1,000 to graduating high school seniors and college or vocational students whose educational emphasis is related to agriculture. A total of $4,250 was awarded to five students.
Lindee Jones and Jennifer Keithly, both past LCCWA scholarship recipients, were each awarded a $1,000 scholarship for the coming school year. Jones attends Chico State University and is pursuing a career as a Pest Control Advisor. She has interned with Lake County Farm Bureau and a local agribusiness company.
Keithly is enrolled at the UC Davis Veterinary School of Medicine and will graduate in 2017. Her focus is on livestock medicine; she was recently appointed to head student surgery technician, a position where she supervises 13 student employees.
Blair Brookes, Kenzi Wattenburger, and Alex Nielson were each awarded a $750 scholarship. Brookes, a 2014 Kelseyville High School graduate and a former Lake County Farm Bureau intern, completed her first year at Cal Poly. She is also a past LCCWA scholarship recipient. She is pursuing an undergraduate degree in agribusiness and plans to attend law school and focus on Agriculture Policy.
Wattenburger, a new scholarship winner, is a student at Chico State University pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science. She works 20 hours a week at a veterinary clinic in Chico and plans to enroll in UC Davis’s Veterinary School of Medicine.
Nielson is enrolled at Mendocino College and is pursuing a degree in agribusiness. He plans to own his own farm and is involved in several community programs in addition to working full-time for a small farm in Ukiah. Alex graduates this spring and plans to transfer to Chico State University.
“Every year, our scholarship applicant pool keeps getting bigger and better,” Sausha Racine, the LCCWA’s Scholarship Chair, stated. “It’s getting more difficult to choose from so many qualified candidates. We’re pleased to see that our local youth is invested in carrying on our community’s tradition of agriculture.”
California Women for Agriculture (CWA) is a non-profit organization with 2,000-plus members across the state. CWA is the most active, all volunteer agricultural organization in the state with members actively engaged in public promotion, education and legislative advocacy on behalf of California agriculture.
LCCWA actively educates their members and the local public about matters impacting agriculture at the County State and Federal levels. LCCWA also awards scholarships to students pursuing agricultural-related education and provides mini-grants to teachers in local schools who are educating their students about agriculture and food. In addition, LCCWA sponsors AgVenture, an educational program for community leaders who wish to learn more about agriculture in Lake County. To learn more about the Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture, visit their website at www.lakecountycwa.org.
