By Kristy Tucker
AgTexas

Outstanding 4-H and FFA high school students received prominent recognition for their dedication to agriculture through AgTexas Farm Credit Services’ 5th Annual AgYouth Scholarship Program, and nine (9) students each received a $1,000 scholarship.
The banquet scheduled for Monday evening, May 4, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in downtown Amarillo was canceled due to limitations of social gathering. As a result, AgTexas announced its 21 scholarship recipients during a Facebook Live session held at the AgTexas corporate office in Lubbock. AgTexas CEO Tim McDonald and Kristy Tucker, Marketing Director, conducted a random drawing among the 36 Panhandle Region honorees.
Students recognized as AgYouth of the Month in our area included Avery Timms (Lazbuddie FFA), Payton Tolbert (Sudan FFA), Emma Rich (Sudan FFA), Ivonne Gonzalez (Farwell FFA), Erica Williams (Farwell FFA) and Sloan Osborn (Farwell FFA). Also, Logan Paetzold (Deaf Smith County 4-H), Heidi Adaline White (Friona FFA) and Marcos Juarez (Friona FFA), Gruhlkey (Adrian 4-H), Jackson Neelley (Vega FFA) and Emily Jackson (Vega FFA).
Nine students were selected among the 36 Panhandle Region honorees to each receive a $1,000 scholarship from AgTexas Farm Credit, which created the program. Those students are Lucas Bradshaw from Randall County 4-H, Spencer Clements from Stratford FFA, Ivonne Gonzalez from Farwell FFA, Briana Huseman from Nazareth FFA, Logan Paetzold from Deaf Smith County 4-H, Ruth Ramirez from Floydada FFA, Emma Rich from Sudan FFA, Avery Timms from Lazbuddie FFA and Jakob Weinheimer from Claude FFA.
Honorees from our area receiving the $1,000 scholarships were Avery Timms (Lazbuddie FFA), Emma Rich (Sudan FFA), Ivonne Gonzalez (Farwell FFA) and Logan Paetzold (Deaf Smith County 4-H). Each of the 36 honorees is receiving a $100 Visa gift card and a certificate.
“This year’s pandemic shows not only that we live in a changing world, but also that we will find innovative solutions to our challenges,” says AgTexas Farm Credit CEO Tim McDonald. He adds, “We chose the Facebook Live platform because we have used it successfully in the past.”
McDonald continues, “We are honoring some of the best and brightest young minds in Texas with this program. These students represent the next generation of agriculture in Texas and the United States. It’s our privilege to pay tribute to their achievements thus far and encourage them for the future.
This worldwide pandemic is also teaching these young leaders that resilience is crucial in life.”
Graduating senior students from their local FFA or 4-H program at high schools within counties that AgTexas serves received recognition from November 2019 through this past month of April. AgTexas awarded a total of $21,000 in scholarships among its three regions and has now presented over $130,000 through the program.
These 4-H and FFA programs help introduce many of their participants to agriculture, allowing students to learn and apply science and technology to make farming and ranching more productive and offer promising futures.
“We are very pleased to have created the AgYouth of the Month program because it brings positive attention to young people who are investing in our state and nation as well as their own futures,” added McDonald.