Texas Pioneer Foundation gives $20,000 to increase endowed scholarship

STEPHENVILLE (April 17, 2018) — True to its mission of improving the quality and results of education for all Texas students, the Texas Pioneer Foundation today increased its endowed scholarship at Tarleton State University another $20,000 in concert with the school’s annual Giving Day.

Created in 2006, the Texas Pioneer Foundation Endowed Scholarship is awarded to full-time students from Texas.

“Our primary purpose is to help young people build successful lives by getting the best education possible,” said Fred Markham, the foundation’s executive director. “Education eliminates poverty, strengthens families and communities, and revives local economies. It improves overall quality of life.”

In addition to its scholarship, Texas Pioneer Foundation has awarded Tarleton more than $500,000 in grant funds over the past several years.

Some $170,000 built and equipped Mobile Go Centers — trailers and companion trucks wrapped head-to-tail in Tarleton colors and images — designed to reach a growing number of Texas students without the resources to register for college.

Another $174,000 equipped a STEM Mobile Learning Center, complete with a full learning lab to help educate and recruit pre-service educators and professionals in science, technology, engineering and math.

“Along with our endowed scholarship program, these are the kinds of educational opportunities that promote access and success in education,” Markham said. “They benefit all students.”

Texas Pioneer Foundation awarded Tarleton a $150,000 grant to create a new Department of Leadership and Strategic Studies — offering a minor in leadership studies to all students regardless of their undergraduate pursuits — and a $20,000 grant helps fund mentoring and professional development opportunities for Tarleton’s MENtal Freedom, encouraging underrepresented males to stay in school and graduate.

“The Texas Pioneer Foundation believes in Tarleton,” Markham said. “The more I see and hear, the more I realize what a great work this university is doing to shape the future of our state and transform young lives for a promising tomorrow. Tarleton doesn’t just say it’s a student-focused university, it lives up to that commitment every day, without exception.”