(AUSTIN, Texas)—Texas high school seniors who care about the environment have the chance to win a college scholarship by composing a 350-word essay explaining what they’ve done to improve the litter situation in their community.
The ninth annual Don’t Mess with Texas Scholarship is sponsored by BASF Corporation’s Freeport, Texas, location in partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful. Don’t Mess with Texas is accepting essays for the 2012 Scholarship March 15 through April 20, 2012.
“This scholarship is such a fit for what we at BASF are trying to accomplish. From the products we make that impact the quality of our lives every day to how we operate our facilities safely and as good stewards of our environment, we are living the ‘Don’t Mess with Texas’ philosophy,” said Chris Witte, Sr. Vice President and Site Manager, BASF Freeport. “Plus, by supporting the educational initiative, it further aligns with our mission of ensuring we have trained, qualified people available to enter the workforce, or even join our industry one day. So BASF is proud—honored—to be able to support this scholarship and the Keep Texas Beautiful organization, while continuing to spread the word that those of us who live in Texas, need to take care of Texas.”
The first-place winner will receive $3,000. The second- and third-place winners will receive $1,000 each.
Don’t Mess with Texas is a litter prevention campaign sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation. The scholarship is one of TxDOT’s efforts to generate more youth involvement in the campaign.
“The scholarship requires students to write an essay explaining the litter prevention efforts they’ve made in their community, and we’re always impressed with how hard many high school students work to keep Texas beautiful,” said Brenda Flores-Dollar, program administrator for TxDOT’s Travel Information Division, which manages the Don’t Mess with Texas campaign.
Eligibility:
- Any high school senior graduating spring 2012, who currently resides and attends school in Texas
- Seniors planning to further their education at an accredited two- or four-year college or university (public or private) in Texas
- Timeline: March 15, 2012 – April 20, 2012. Materials are due via email or must be postmarked by April 20, 2012.
Requirements:
- AA 300 to 350 word-essay identifying a litter problem in the student’s school or community and the action he or she took to address it
- A completed Don’t Mess with Texas Scholarship application sent online or by mail with the essay by April 20, 2012. For the application, mailing address or further details, visitwww.DontMessWithTexas.org.
About Don’t Mess with Texas
Don’t Mess with Texas has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986. TxDOT’s litter prevention program includes Adopt-a-Highway and a grassroots partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful. Don’t Mess with Texas activities also include a spring “Trash-Off,” community outreach, a corporate partner program, and a new photo album where Texans can share their iconic Texas images. For more information, visit www.DontMessWithTexas.org or our Facebook Page.
About BASF Corporation
The BASF Corporation is home to more than 100 manufacturing sites throughout the US, Mexico and Canada, including one of its largest sites in Freeport, Texas. Founded in 1958, the BASF Freeport site is home to 24 manufacturing plants making 23 different products. These products are the raw materials used to make many products that we depend upon every day, including fertilizer, food packaging, automobile parts, housing materials, fishing line, carpet, epoxies, paints and more. We have more than 1,100 people working here – direct employees and contractors – together ensuring we make our products safely, efficiently and with minimal impact on our environment. Our site believes in giving back to the community who gives us the right to operate. We do that by supporting more than 50 organizations and their related activities each year, with our employees donating more than 500 man-hours annually to community goodwill. Along those same lines, BASF is a proud partner with our local public schools and our community college, realizing that our future workforce—our future leadership—depends upon what we teach our youth today.
The Texas Department of Transportation
The Texas Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining 80,000 miles of road and for supporting aviation, rail, and public transportation across the state. TxDOT and its 11,000 employees are committed to working with others to provide safe and reliable transportation solutions for Texas by maintaining a safe system, addressing congestion, connecting Texas communities, and being a Best in Class state agency. Find out more atwww.txdot.gov. Fan us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.