WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- The Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association (ONLA) recently awarded 16 scholarships to the recipients of its 2013 ONLA Scholarship Program.

 

The ONLA presented a total of 16 scholarships totaling $14,500 in scholarship support. Scholarships were awarded based upon academic achievement, school involvement, extracurricular activities and interest in horticulture.

 

The scholarships were given in memory of Dr. Phil Kozel, former Professor of Horticulture at Ohio State University. Dr. Kozel was also director of the Shade Tree Evaluation Program until his untimely death in 1979.

 

The President’s Scholarship is awarded through the ONLA Scholarship Fund administered by the Academic Excellence Foundation (AEF). This scholarship is awarded to the highest scoring applicant in the judging process. The 2013 President’s Scholarship winner is Joshua Riebe from Owens Community College.

 

Other winners of the 2013 ONLA/Phil Kozel Memorial Scholarship Program include: Samantha August (Columbus State Community College), Robin Cannon (Kent State University), Jared Champion (The Ohio State University), Jacob Danley (The Ohio State University), Nicholas Duff (Owens Community College), Jenny Gast (University of Cincinnati), Jason Gebhart (Clark State Community College), Jamie Helbig (Cincinnati State Community College), Timothy Lybarger (Owens Community College), Katherine Smith (Cincinnati State Community College) and Travis Wilt (Clark State Community College).

 

Although the Southwest Ohio Environmental Horticulture Association (SOEHA) disbanded in 2001, it decided to donate all remaining organizational monies to a scholarship fund in honor of Lloyd W. Kennedy, to be administered by the ONLA. The 2013 SOEHA scholarship recipient is Lynda Camp from Cincinnati State Technical & Community College.

 

This year, three scholarships were given to high school FFA students. The winners were Hillary Rader (Ohio Hi-Point Career Center), Tyler Stefancin (Lorain County Joint Vocational school, and David Tevs (Medina County Career Center).

 

The ONLA Scholarship Program has given over $500,000 in the last 20 years to deserving horticulture students throughout Ohio.