HARLINGEN — Through the creation of these scholarship opportunities, organizers aim to inspire future leaders to advocate for litter prevention and refrain from littering.
Don’t Mess with Texas, a Texas Department of Transportation campaign, is seeking applicants for its scholarship and school art contests.
Prizes and scholarships will be awarded to Texas students demonstrating efforts to raise awareness about litter prevention in their communities.
The scholarship and school art contests are presented in partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful, a nonprofit based in Austin.
Both contests are currently accepting applications and submissions.
“We are looking forward to rewarding students for their creativity and hard work in developing projects that keep their communities and Texas clean,” campaign program administrator Becky Ozuna stated in a press release.
Art contest
The art contest is open to Texas students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Applicants must submit original artwork for an opportunity to be featured in Don’t Mess with Texas’ 2021 calendar.
Submitted artwork should promote the litter prevention messages of Don’t Mess with Texas and/or Keep Texas Beautiful, which aim to encourage and inspire Texas residents to advocate and take action for litter prevention.
Artwork must be submitted on an 8.5 by 11 inch piece of paper in landscape format.
Only one design per student will be accepted.
All artwork must be two-dimensional.
Collages, computer-generated artwork, photography, traced images or photocopies will be disqualified.
The top 14 winning designs will be featured in the calendar.
Additionally, each winner will receive a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 tablet and a gift basket from Buc-ee’s.
Teachers representing the students who produced the top 14 designs will each win a $100 gift card from H-E-B/Central Market.
Submissions for the school art contest must be sent through the U.S. mail and postmarked on or before April 24.
Scholarship contest
The scholarship contest is open to any Texas high school senior currently attending public, private or home school and is planning to attend an accredited college or university in the coming year.
According to campaign representatives, the scholarship contest recognizes the achievements of high school seniors who are taking an active role in preventing litter in their schools and communities, while working to build awareness for Don’t Mess with Texas’ initiative.
To enter the contest, applicants must answer a series of short answer questions on Don’t Mess with Texas’ website.
The contest will award one $5,000 scholarship, one $4,000 scholarship and one $3,000 prize in May.
Applications for the scholarship contest must be submitted online by 5 p.m. central time on March 31.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
• The Don’t mess with Texas campaign has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986.
• The most commonly littered items are wrappers, packaging, cans and cigarette butts.
• To enter the Don’t Mess with Texas Scholarship Contest or the Don’t Mess with Texas K-12 School Art Contest, visit www.dontmesswithtexas.org
