May 5, 2005

KERRVILLE— Sixteen high school graduates from the Hill Country have been chosen to receive full scholarships from The Cailloux Foundation of Kerrville, Texas. The Foundation established The Cailloux Foundation Scholarship Program in 2000 to benefit graduating seniors from selected Texas Hill Country high schools.

 The 2005 recipients have been chosen from high schools in Bandera, Center Point, Comfort, Fredericksburg, Harper, Ingram, Junction, Kerrville, Leakey, Medina, and Rocksprings. Awards are up to $12,000 per recipient annually and are for undergraduate study only. The scholarships are renewable for up to four years for a maximum multi-year award of $48,000 per student. Scholarship recipients attend four-year universities in the State of Texas. A recent change to the program allows students to attend private as well as public institutions and several of the new recipients will be enrolled at private colleges for the fall semester. The program will now have 49 freshmen through senior level students participating as scholarship recipients.

 The 2005 scholarship recipients include Travis Chastain and Bethany Whitehead of Bandera, Jamie Barton of Center Point, Callie Kaiser of Comfort, Aleksandra Malinowska of Fredericksburg, Eric Schmidt of Harper, Joshua Essel of Ingram, Rebecca Oliver of Junction, Brittany Albarado of Leakey, Pollard Coates of Medina, and Jason Reed of Rocksprings. Five new recipients from Kerrville’s Tivy High School include Sonny Eckhart, Amanda Hill, Hayne Holley, Sarah Keller, and Jennifer Sinski.

Travis Chastain from Bandera High School will major in computer science at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Bethany Whitehead from Bandera High School will major in bilingual education at Texas A&M at Corpus Christi.

Jamie Barton from Center Point High School will major in pre-law at Texas Tech at Lubbock.

Callie Kaiser from Comfort High School will major in civil engineering at Texas A&M at College Station.

Aleksandra Malinowska from Fredericksburg High School will major in international business at Trinity University in San Antonio.

Eric Schmidt from Harper High School will major in architechtural engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Joshua Essel from Ingram Tom Moore High School will major in biology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Rebecca Oliver from Junction High School will major in chemistry at Baylor University in Waco.

Brittany Albarado from Leakey High School will major in nursing at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Pollard (Cinco) Coates V from Medina High School will major in business at Texas A&M in College Station.

Jason Reed from Rocksprings High School will major in physical education at Tarleton State at Stephenville.

Sonny Eckhart from Kerrville's Tivy High School will major in business at Texas A&M at College Station.

Amanda Hill from Kerrville's Tivy High School will major in nursing at Texas A&M at Corpus Christi.

Hayne Holley from Kerrville's Tivy High School will major in agriculture at Texas A&M at College Station.

Sarah Keller from Kerrville's Tivy High School will major in music education at Texas State University at San Marcos.

Jennifer Sinski from Kerrville's Tivy High School will major in political science at Southwestern in Georgetown.

 The applicants met or exceeded a minimum Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score requirement of 1017, which is just under the current national average. They also have a minimum grade average of 85 and are in the top one-third of their class. Scholarship applications were made available to any interested senior graduating from an eligible high school and meeting the academic and financial eligibility requirements. Applications were distributed by high school counselors, from The Cailloux Foundation office, and at a college preparatory event at Tivy High School.

Final selection of recipients for the scholarship awards was made by Scholarship Management Services (SMS), a division of Scholarship America in St. Peter, Minnesota. SMS utilized standard comprehensive recipient selection procedures including the consideration of past academic performance and future potential, statement of career goals and educational aspirations, financial need, work experience, unusual personal or family circumstances, leadership skills, participation in school and community activities, and recommendation letters in making the final selections.  

“We are very pleased to announce that our scholarship recipients will no longer be limited to public institutions,” said Sandy Cailloux, Executive Director for the Foundation, “What school a student attends is a personal choice and for some a private school can be a better option. Many private schools offer enough financial aid to make up the difference between the total cost and the Foundation award which is important because our program is for students with financial need,” she added.

 In addition, students who meet the eligibility requirements from the Big Spring Charter School near Leakey, Mason High School in Mason, the Nueces Canyon High School near Barksdale, Our Lady of the Hills Catholic High School in Kerrville, and Utopia High School in Utopia will be able to apply for scholarships in 2006. Sixteen scholarship recipients from all the eligible schools will be selected at large.

Floyd A. and Kathleen C. Cailloux created The Cailloux Foundation in 1994. The Foundation’s mission is to perpetuate the Cailloux’s vision through the betterment of individual lives, with emphasis on the needs of disadvantaged children. Mr. Cailloux was co-founder of Keystone International and was instrumental in the company becoming a leader in the manufacturing and marketing of industrial valves for general industry. In 1981, Mr. and Mrs. Cailloux moved from Houston to Kerrville, where they became very involved in charitable endeavors in the Texas Hill Country and around the state. The Foundation continues these endeavors by awarding grants to eligible nonprofit organizations mainly in the Hill Country.

 The application process for the Foundation consists of an initial letter of inquiry from a nonprofit organization to help Foundation staff determine if a project fits within its guidelines. If a project does fit the guidelines, a full grant application is provided for the agency to complete. Please read the application process section on this site for more information regarding inquiries to the Foundation. n