State fair seeks scholarship applicants

PALMER — The deadline is 4 p.m., April 15 to apply for this year’s Alaska State Fair scholarships. All Alaska junior and senior high school students who plan to attend college or vocational school are eligible to apply.

Applications should be mailed or hand-delivered to the Alaska State Fair, 2075 Glenn Hwy., Palmer, Alaska 99645, and must be received by 4 p.m., April 15.

This year, the fair will award a total of $6,500 in scholarships, including $2,000 for first place, $1,500 for second place and $1,000 for third place. The fair may also award up to four $500 honorable mention scholarships or increase the award amounts for the first-, second- or third-place recipients. The recipients will be announced on or before May 9.

To apply, submit:

• Cover letter including student name, address, phone and email, school name and phone, counselor’s name, and the name of the college or vocational school the student plans to attend.

• Extracurricular resume including interests, clubs, community service and/or employment.

• One letter of recommendation.

• A photo that may be used for publicity purposes.

• Written essay (1,000 words or less) or creative project (audio, video, performance or visual arts, business plan, social media campaign, arts and crafts, photography, etc.)

Applicants should choose one of the following topics for the essay or creative project for this purpose:

• The fair has just adopted a new master plan. After reviewing the master plan, on its website alaskastatefair.org, which aspect of the plan would you implement first and why?

• The Alaska State Fair’s primary mission is to educate fairgoers. How could the fair improve its educational programming for you and why?

• How would you use a 12-foot by 12-foot booth space at the fair to educate or entertain the public or sell goods or services?

The fair continues to seek new ways to raise money for scholarships. In 2012, the fair supported Palmer Rotary’s first-ever Cabbage Classic Lottery, which gave fairgoers a chance to guess the weight of the winning cabbage in the Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off. Each year the winner receives half of the proceeds and the remainder was split between the fair and Rotary scholarship funds.

Last year, the fair awarded $6,500 to seven Alaska students. Recipients included Emelia Van Wyhe, Kenny Lake School; Makenzie Thompson, Colony High School; Jacob Sy, West Anchorage High School; Tyler VanAusdal, Palmer High School; Ashley Gonzalez, East Anchorage High School; Olivia Martin, Colony High School; and Marcus Moulton, Thunder Mountain High School.

For more information, visit alaskastatefair.org or contact Kelly Larson at 746-7164 or marketing@alaskastatefair.org