Cypress, Calif.
- Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A.,
is now accepting applications for the 2012-2013 scholarship program that
provides financial assistance to members of the National Agricultural
Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT). ACT is a national college student
association with more than 350 members located on 17 college and university
campuses across the country. ACT's mission of fostering professional
development is at the core of the Yamaha-ACT Scholarship Program, now in its
fifth year.
The Yamaha-ACT Scholarship Program is broken out into two
individual student scholarships and one chapter scholarship. All three awards
are aimed at helping students attend the annual Agricultural Media Summit
(AMS), which is the largest gathering of ag media professionals in the country
and is the ACT students' primary career development networking opportunity each
year. The conference is hosted by the American Agricultural Editors'
Association (AAEA), the Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and the American
Business Media Agri-Council-potentially future employers and colleagues of the
students.
"Yamaha congratulates the past winners of these scholarships
and looks forward to working with more students in the coming year," Steve
Nessl, Yamaha's ATV/SxS marketing manager, said. "Yamaha's goals for this
program are to support ag students while spreading the message of safe,
responsible use of farm equipment-particularly ATV and side-by-side vehicles."
For the 2012-2013 program, the Illini Agricultural
Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) Chapter at University
of Illinois received the chapter
award, while Danielle Smith of University
of Arkansas and Bailey Toates of Oklahoma State University
earned individual scholarships.
"We were very excited to be honored with the Yamaha Chapter
Award. It's a great opportunity for our students to learn more about farm
safety while using their communications skills to develop engaging articles,
advertisements, and more," Jennifer Shike, Illini ACT advisor, said. "Not
only did Yamaha support our students' professional development opportunities
this year, but we were privileged to take part in a top-notch photography
workshop as part of our Yamaha award experience. It's a testimony to Yamaha's
commitment to helping the future of agriculture."
"I learned a lot at AMS this year and made so many great
connections with potential employers and none of it would have been possible
without Yamaha's support," Danielle Smith said. "Events like AMS can be
expensive for students to attend, but the scholarship that Yamaha provides
gives students the means to be able to attend this outstanding event. I
strongly encourage students to find a way to attend AMS and applying for this
scholarship is a great way to do so."
"I am very thankful for the opportunity Yamaha has
provided me, and honored to be a recipient of this incredible award," said
Bailey Toates. "Ag Media Summit was an incredible experience and provided
numerous learning opportunities."
Applications are judged based on merit, need and
quality of submission materials by a review committee consisting of Yamaha
representatives and members of the AAEA and the LPC. The 2012-2013
application process will run through the end of March 2013 and winners will be
announced in late April. More information and guidelines, along with the
application form, will be posted online at www.nactnow.org.
