Media Center - Florida Realtors®

Contact:

Jeff Zipper, Vice President of Communications
407/438-1400, ext. 2314
JeffZ@far.org

Marla Martin, Communications Manager
407/438-1400, ext. 2326
MarlaM@far.org

Planning for college? Florida Association of Realtors® offers a total of $41,000 in scholarship awards

ORLANDO, Fla., December 2003 -- Florida high school seniors: Are you filling out college applications and pouring over potential scholarship programs? Then make plans to enter the Florida Association of Realtors®’ (FAR) 2003-2004 Scholarship/Essay Contest for High School Seniors for a chance to win up to $6,500 in scholarship funding.

Entering the contest is easy. Students write a typed, double-spaced essay -- 500 words or less -- on the topic, “How Does a Realtor Professional Benefit the Community?” This topic allows students the freedom to write about the wide range of Realtor professionals who work in a variety of fields, including residential brokerage, commercial brokerage, industrial and office brokerage, farm and land brokerage, real estate appraising, property management, land development and real estate counseling, to name just a few of the general specialties. Or essays may address such points as the benefits of homeownership to society, or on a personal level, or how the selling of commercial real estate encourages economic growth.

“Helping young people to continue their education and fulfill their dreams for the future is an investment in our community,” says 2004 FAR President Russell Grooms. “Florida Realtors take great pride in our scholarship program. It's a wonderful feeling to know that you've encouraged these students to achieve their goals and provided a boost to start them on their road to success.”

And this year, the scholarship program will benefit even more students from across the state, with prize money going to both the first- and second-place essays in each of the Association's 13 districts in the state. Students turning in the top district-winning essays will each win a $1,500 scholarship prize while the second-place entries will each receive a $500 scholarship award. The 13 district-winning essays will go on to compete to win three $5,000 FAR scholarships on the statewide level, for a total of $41,000 in scholarship awards. All essays, along with an official Essay Cover Form, must be submitted no later than Wednesday, March 17, 2004, to the Florida Association of Realtors, 7025 Augusta National Drive, P.O. Box 725025, Orlando, FL, 32872-5025.

Check with the high school guidance office to obtain an application kit and essay cover form for FAR’s 2003-2004 Scholarship/Essay Contest for High School Seniors. Or go to the media section of FAR’s new Media Center Web site, (http://media.living.net) to find the scholarship/essay contest application kit, official cover form and list of FAR District Vice Presidents.

FAR’s statewide scholarship awards program is open only to high school seniors who reside in the state of Florida and plan on continuing their education at a college, university, technical school or other institution of higher learning. Children of licensed real estate practitioners are not eligible for contest entry; nor are children whose parents are employed by any local Realtor board/associations or by the Florida Association of Realtors.

Just think: Write 500 words or less and win up to $6,500 -- scholarship money that could cover the costs of tuition at a local community college or pay for at least partial tuition at a Florida state university. Now that’s a scholarship that will go FAR.

The Florida Association of Realtors, the voice for real estate in Florida, provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation to its 90,000 members in 70 boards/associations.