AFE Awards ’16 Vic & Margaret Ball Scholarships

The American Floral Endowment (AFE) has awarded four students with 2016 Vic & Margaret Ball Internships. The students will receive scholarships after successfully completing their internships.

The Vic & Margaret Ball Internship Program gives students the opportunity to train for three, four or six-month periods at a commercial production greenhouse or nursery while gaining practical floriculture/horticulture experience.

In 1992, Vic and Margaret Ball made a generous donation to AFE to establish this program to help ensure successful future generations of horticulture professionals.

The 2016 recipients are:

• Michael Del Valle, Jr. – six months at The Sun Valley Group in Arcata, California, $6,000 scholarship
  

  Michael Del Valle, Jr., University of Georgia. Photos: AFE

Del Valle, Jr. is majoring in horticulture at the University of Georgia (UGA) and is an active member of the UGA Horticulture Club and Pi Alpha Xi Honor Society for Horticulture. He is interested in gaining internship experience in greenhouse and floriculture production to help in fulfilling his career of growing and nurturing flowers and foliage plants.

• Maria Fox – four months at Green Circle Growers in Oberlin, Ohio, $4,000 scholarship

A junior horticulture student at Iowa State University, Fox is interested in working in and learning more about the greenhouse industry. She hopes to become a grower in a commercial greenhouse in the future, and possibly have her own greenhouse.

• Emily Guild – three months at Smith Gardens in Aurora, Oregon, $1,500 scholarship
  

  Emily Guild, University of Idaho.

Guild is a junior at the University of Idaho, with a major in Sustainable Crop and Landscape Management. She is involved in the Plant and Soil Science Club and is interested in learning more about the day-to-day operations of floral greenhouses.

• Curtis Partain – six months, $6,000 scholarship (placement TBD)

A Kansas State University student majoring in horticulture, Partain is involved in his school’s Horticulture Club and has had a passion for plants since he was a child. He wants to expand his knowledge about the greenhouse and floriculture industry, and hopes to own and operate a greenhouse production facility in the future.