DENVER, Colo. – Now in its fifth year, the National Western Denver Scholarship Program has announced the four recipients of its 2023 award class.
This year’s class combines impressive academic achievements with a broad range of extracurricular activities. Common among the group is a desire to pursue undergraduate degrees and career paths that contribute to emerging and influential fields of agriculture. Each will receive $2,500 to cover higher education-related expenses.
This year’s awardees, chosen from 62 applicants, include:
Jonathan Valdez Flores, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College
Jonathan intends to study mechanical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, or the University of Colorado Boulder. He hopes to apply his skills in the design of smart crop irrigation or in developing electric vehicles for agricultural applications. Since the age of 15, he has helped his father in his work replacing windshields.
MacKenzie Jensen, Denver Academy
MacKenzie aims to study agribusiness and animal science at Casper College or Eastern College in Wyoming to pursue a career in sustainable agriculture. She launched her sheep-breeding business, MJ Woolies, in 2021 and works as a wool-process apprentice at the Fleece Factory in La Salle, Colo. She has exhibited breeding and market sheep at the Adams County Fair and showed hand-spun wool at the Estes Park Wool Market.
Jonathan Olvera-Duran, Abraham Lincoln High School
Jonathan plans on studying computer science and political science at the University of Denver or Metropolitan State University, followed by a potential career as a software developer at an agricultural firm. Raised by Spanish-speaking parents, the varsity soccer player and robotics club engineer and programmer learned English as a second language and will be the first in his family to attend college.
Adamary Luna Reyes, Bruce Randolph High School
Adamary hopes to become a rural veterinarian. She plans to launch her academic pursuit of that goal at Metropolitan State University. Her mother’s side of the family’s work in the cattle business introduced her to the importance of veterinary care to both animals and the agriculture business, and her parents and older brother worked in the California fields before moving to Denver.
“Our 2023 Denver Scholarship Program recipients are each uniquely deserving of these awards,” said Steve Bangert, chair of the National Western Denver Scholarship Program Advisory Board. “It’s an honor and a pleasure to lend a helping hand to such promising young talent as they pursue careers to advance agriculture, the most vital of our industries.”
Paul Andrews, president and CEO of the National Western Stock Show, echoed that sentiment. “Education and community have been at the heart of the National Western mission since the first stock show in 1906,” Andrews said. “These scholarships represent, to me, a great investment, one that fosters the precious resource of human capital in pursuit of improving agricultural productivity into the 21st century.”
About the National Western Denver Scholarship Program:
The National Western Scholarship Program launched in 2019 for students graduating from Denver public high schools, college preparatory schools, or religious-affiliated schools to support and inspire the next generation of leaders in the diverse fields of agriculture. For more information, visit nationalwestern.com/Denver-
— National Western Stock Show
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