Don’t Mess With Texas® Offering Scholarships To Texas Students

AUSTIN – Don’t mess with Texas is holding two contests to award prizes and scholarships to Texas students demonstrating efforts to raise awareness about litter prevention in their communities. The 2020 Don’t mess with Texas Scholarship Contest and the Don’t mess with Texas K-12 School Art Contest are presented in partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful. Both contests are currently accepting applications and submissions.

The 2020 Don’t mess with Texas Scholarship Contest is open to any Texas high school senior currently attending public, private or home school and planning to attend an accredited college or university in the coming year. The contest will award one $5,000 scholarship, one $4,000 scholarship and one $3,000 prize in May 2020. The scholarships recognize 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 the Texas Department of Transportation’s Don’t mess with Texas initiative.

In the Don’t mess with Texas K-12 School Art Contest, Texas students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade are invited to submit their original artwork for the opportunity to be featured in the 2021 Don’t mess with Texas Calendar. The artwork should promote the Don’t mess with Texas and/or Keep Texas Beautiful litter prevention messages to encourage and inspire Texas residents to advocate and take action for litter prevention. The top 14 winning designs will be featured in the calendar. 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 produce the top 14 designs will each win a $100 gift card from H-E-B/Central Market.

To submit to the Don’t mess with Texas Scholarship Contest or the Don’t mess with Texas K-12 School Art Contest, visit dontmesswithtexas.org. Applications for the Don’t mess with TexasScholarship Contest must be received via online submission by 5 p.m. (CST) March 31, 2020. Submissions for the Don’t mess with Texas K-12 School Art Contest must be sent through the U.S. mail and postmarked on or before April 24, 2020. Sponsors for the Don’t mess with Texas Scholarship include Buc-ee’s, iHeart Media and the Astros Foundation.

“We are looking forward to rewarding students for their creativity and hard work in developing projects that keep their communities and Texas clean,” said Becky Ozuna, program administrator for thecampaign.

Don’t mess with Texas has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986. The program includes a grassroots partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful, annual “Trash-Off” community outreach events and the Adopt-a-Highway volunteer program.