Agri-Culture announced that Jose German Basurto has been awarded its Jimmie Cox Memorial Scholarship for 2017. This college scholarship is awarded to a student who is, or will be majoring in agriculture. Jose is currently a senior year at Watsonville High School. He played basketball in school and has been an “Honor Roll” student. He is a member of the Business, Agriculture and Technology Academy (BATA) at Watsonville High.
Jose will be attending Fresno State University in the fall where he will be pursuing a career in Agricultural System Management. He hopes to graduate from college and return to Santa Cruz County with a better “…understanding about the crops that are grown here in Watsonville.”
Agri-Culture President Steve Bontadelli stated, “We had many applicants this year, we wish we could have given them all a scholarship.” Bontadelli further stated, “Jose is an outstanding individual. He is a well-rounded student and will be a great addition to the agriculture community when he finishes college. ”
Starting in 2012, Agri-Culture announced a partnership with American AgCredit. The recipient of the Jimmie Cox Memorial Scholarship also receives an additional $2,000 award from the American AgCredit Scholarship Program. This brings the total scholarship amount that Jose will receive to $4,000.
A special $2,000 scholarship award was given to Ashley Devery who attended Aptos High School from 2012-2014. This is the first time the selection committee has decided to give an extra award to a student who applied for, but did not receive the Jimmie Cox Memorial Scholarship. Ashley is currently attending Oregon State University.
This scholarship was presented at the National Agriculture Day Spring Luncheon held in the Heritage Hall at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds on Wednesday, March 15. The Luncheon is an annual event sponsored by the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and Agri-Culture.
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For more information about the Jimmie Cox Memorial Scholarship, please contact Agri-Culture at 722-6622 or see the website at www.agri-culture.us