OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD) announced Helen Kathryne Jackson, of Mountain View and Makenna J. Paniel, of Guthrie, as the 2020 Mike Thralls Memorial Scholarship award winners. Jackson was 1st in her class at Mountain View-Gotebo High School and is attending Oklahoma State University this fall and is majoring in Agriculture Business, Marketing and Economics. Paniel is a first year Master’s student at Oklahoma State University, seeking her Master’s in Plant and Soil Sciences. She received her bachelor’s in the spring in Environmental Science.
The Mike Thralls Memorial Scholarship is awarded on an annual basis to students who are either current high school seniors that will be pursuing a degree in agriculture or natural resources at Oklahoma State University, or students currently enrolled at OSU in the Ferguson College of Agriculture and are graduates of an Oklahoma high school.
Congratulations Helen Kathryne Jackson and Makenna J. Paniel on being the fifth annual Mike Thralls Memorial Scholarship winners.
Mike Thralls didn’t just cast seeds of knowledge out and then turn and walk away. He made sure the information he shared about conservation/agriculture set deep roots that would be sustainable. He nurtured what he sowed.
This past February marked five years since his passing, and this year’s scholarship recipients represent the fifth year of recognition of the Mike Thralls Memorial Scholarships. The two $500 scholarships are awarded on an annual basis to students who are either current high school seniors that will be pursuing a degree in agriculture or natural resources at Oklahoma State University, or students currently enrolled at OSU in the Ferguson College of Agriculture and are graduates of an Oklahoma high school.
Thralls served agriculture and conservation is so many ways including serving through the years as the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and as the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture. He also served as President of the National Association of State Conservation Agencies (NASCA).
The award encourages applicants who are students involved in 4-H, FFA, farming and/or ranching and have expressed an interest in conservation. The students selected each year exhibit outstanding character, professionalism and a commitment to serve their community.
“He would be very proud for the recipients in all that they have accomplished and what they want to further do for agriculture and conservation,” said Mike’s wife, Donna Thralls.
For more information about the Mike Thralls Memorial Scholarship Award, visit okconservation.org.
About the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts
The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts is a nonprofit organization representing Oklahoma's conservation districts to provide leadership, resources and partnership opportunities for those who manage the land to enhance our natural resources for a better Oklahoma. For more information, visit www.okconservation.org.
