Daniela McConville, right, a 2017 graduate of Mendota High School, accepts a National FFA Organization Scholarship presented by Nick Organ. (Photo contributed)

MENDOTA - The National FFA Organization recently awarded a $1,000 Chevy Trucks scholarship to Daniela McConville of the Mendota FFA. The scholarship is sponsored by Schimmer Chevrolet Buick Inc.

This scholarship is one of 1,888 awarded through the National FFA Organization's scholarship program this year. McConville plans to use the funds to pursue a degree at Illinois State University in Normal.

Currently 115 sponsors contribute more than $2.7 million to support scholarships for students. For 33 years, scholarships have been made available through funding secured by the National FFA Foundation. This generous funding comes from individuals, businesses and corporate sponsors to encourage excellence and enable students to pursue their educational goals.

The 2017 scholarship recipients were selected from 8,337 applicants from across the country. Selections were based on the applicant's leadership, academic record, FFA and other school and community activities, supervised agricultural or work experience in agricultural education and future goals.

The National FFA Organization provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education to 649,355 student members who belong to one of 7,859 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The organization is also supported by 225,891 alumni members in 1,934 alumni chapters throughout the U.S.