Enterprising Martin High School Student Wins First-ever "Don't Mess with Texas" Scholarship
- 05.13.04
Alicia Taylor wins $1,000 for tackling local litter problem
(AUSTIN)—Young Texans are the state's worst litterers, but thanks to Martin High School senior Alicia Taylor, the number of offenders in the Metroplex may be on the decline.
On May 13, Taylor was named one of three recipients of the first-ever Don't Mess with Texas scholarship for creating the Environmental Organization at Martin High and a documentary about recycling and composting. More than one thousand students in the Arlington Independent School District have seen the movie, which was created for Taylor's Girl Scout Gold Award.
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. Macey Bielski of Waller won the first prize of a $3,000 scholarship, and both Taylor and Marcus McWilliams of Anson each received $1,000 scholarships.
"Alicia'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. "Our panel of judges was especially impressed that she produced a video can serve as an educational tool for area students long after her graduation."
Taylor will use the money to study biology at the University of North Texas or the University of Texas at Austin.
In her application, Taylor talked about her passion for building a better future for Arlington through sustainable solutions to area litter problems. Some of those solutions have included litter cleanups at Veteran's Park and the creation of a plastics recycling program at Martin High School.
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.
