MAGNOLIA—A couple days of cooking and serving chicken at the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock will equal a year’s tuition for six Southern Arkansas University students.
Representatives from Allied Poultry, a part of the Arkansas Poultry Federation, select the students during an interview process, said Dr. James Tollett, chair of the SAU’s agriculture department. Tollett said about 18 students applied for the scholarships this year.
“Allied Poultry pays for one semester and we pay for the other,” Tollett said. “Most of these students will be in the poultry industry when the graduate.”
In exchange for the scholarship money, students agree to devote two days during the state fair to working in “The Chicken Cooking Kitchen” at the fairgrounds. The proceeds from the booth help keep the scholarship program alive each year.
“This beats student loans hands down – those are tricky; they tend to want it back,” said Japheth May, one of the six recipients of the scholarships. “(Allied Poultry) pays us pretty good wages.”
The students who received the scholarship are Teresa Gaus, an agricultural sciences major from Beaumont, Tx.; Brant Henry, an agricultural education major of Dekalb, Tx.; Megan Lee, an agricultural business major from DeQueen, Ark.; Japheth May, an agricultural business major from Springhill, Ark.; Kyle Risley, an agricultural business major from Mena, Ark.; and Ashley Shelby, an agricultural business major from Maud, Tx.
“It has helped me out a whole bunch, I don’t know if I could do it without the help,” said Henry.
With six scholarship recipients, SAU is the second largest recipient of the Allied Poultry scholarships in the state, falling only behind the University of Arkansas, Tollett said.
