The Cass County Extension Master Gardeners group is excited to announce that they will be offering a $500 scholarship to encourage local youth with an interest in horticulture to pursue it as a career. The purpose of this scholarship is to provide post-secondary tuition funds to Cass County youth who are studying, or intend to pursue a career in, a horticulture-related field.

This scholarship is available to students from Cass County who are currently enrolled in their second year or higher of a college or trade school, studying in a horticulture related field. Applications are due December 30 to the Cass County Extension Office. Selection will be made by a Cass County Master Gardeners committee, and winners will be notified in January. Scholarship checks will be written to the college or trade school in the student’s name following the first semester of the recipient’s sophomore (or subsequent) year.

The goal of the Master Gardener program is to support horticulture education and community service. To this end, scholarship winners will be selected based on their academic success, history of community service, and career goals after graduation. Quality and completeness of application will also be taken into consideration. Application forms and further details can be found on the Cass County Extension web site at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass. For more information, call the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or email Kate Olson, Master Gardener Coordinator, at keolson@iastate.edu.