Enterprising Waller High School Student Wins First-ever "Don't Mess with Texas" Scholarship
- 05.10.04
Macey Bielski wins $3,000 for tackling local litter problem
(AUSTIN)—Young Texans are the state's worst litterers, but thanks to Waller High School senior Macey Bielski, the number of offenders in southeast Texas may be on the decline.
On May 6, Bielski won the first-ever Don't Mess with Texas scholarship for creating an environmental student group called Project Earth, expanding recycling efforts at her school and organizing communitywide litter cleanups in the Waller area.
The Don't Mess with Texas Scholarship, sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation and funded by a donation from Dairy Queen, was created to recognize the achievements of Texas high school seniors who have taken actions to prevent litter in their schools or communities. Bielski won the first prize of a $3,000 scholarship, and Marcus McWilliams of Anson and Alicia Taylor of Arlington each received $1,000 scholarships.
"Macey's litter prevention activities are truly remarkable, and especially inspiring given that Texans ages 16 to 24 are the most frequent litterers," said Darah Waldrip, program manager for the Don't Mess with Texas campaign. "Her ability to rally her peers around this cause and organize events as effectively as someone twice her age really made her application stand out for our panel of judges."
Waldrip was on hand at the May 6 Waller High School awards ceremony to personally deliver the scholarship certificate to Bielski, who will use the money to study broadcast journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.
In her application, Bielski said she is proud to have founded such a successful organization (Project Earth) that will continue to beautify the Waller community and school district after she graduates. Her legacy of activities includes expanding a small recycling program at her school to include everything from paper to eyeglasses and batteries, and organizing monthly litter cleanups around the campus.
The scholarship is TxDOT's latest effort to generate more youth involvement in the Don't Mess with Texas campaign. This year also marked the first-ever Don't Mess with Texas Campus Cleanup on 17 college and university campuses in March 2004. The second annual Don't Mess with Texas Road Tour kicked off in April 2004 and is taking a truck full of games and prizes to 25 Texas cities this summer.
TxDOT's Don't Mess with Texas litter prevention campaign has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986.
For more information, visit www.dontmesswithtexas.org.
