The Antioch Garden Club is offering a $1,000 scholarship to students majoring in Horticulture, Floriculture, Landscape Design, Botany, Plant Pathology, Forestry, Agronomy, Environmental Concerns, City Planning, Land Management and/or allied fields of study.
This scholarship named after Nancy Zitkus, who is a founding member of AGC and a dedicated former treasurer of the club. The Nancy Zitkus scholarship is open to students who reside in Antioch Township or neighboring communities and is a student at a 2 or 4 year college or university. Current high school seniors or returning adult students who are enrolling in a 2 or 4 year college or university are eligible to apply.
Applicants can find the rules for submission and application forms below.
AGC Scholarship Forms (rtf)
DownloadHailey Ross is the recipient of the 2024 Nancy Zitkus scholarship. Hailey is a graduate of Grayslake Central High School and will be attending Elon University in North Carolina. Her studies will be focused on sustainability. The production and disposal of inexpensive packaging materials usually involves high amounts of energy consumption, the depletion of natural resources and the release of greenhouse gasses. Hailey is looking to find a middle ground between more sustainable packaging to help save our environment.
Congratulations Hailey!
The Antioch Garden Club is pleased to announce the recipient of the scholarship award for 2022 is Riley Nebel, a junior at Illinois State University, planning to graduate in May, 2024. He is majoring in Horticulture and Landscape Management. He has recently become invested in hydroponics and vertical farming. He believes in vertical farming because land for traditional farming is declining. Also, vacant warehouses are on the rise.
Riley has been involved in many community projects such as Feed My Starving Children, the Northern Illinois Food Bank and has worked summers on an all-organic farm for the last five years. He has led teams, taught students about plant identification and basic overall knowledge about agriculture.
We wish him the best on his future endeavors.
Congratulations. Riley!
The Antioch Garden Club is excited to announce the recipient of the 2021 Nancy Zitkus Scholarship Award, Tessa Wolf. Tessa is an honor student graduating from Antioch Community High School in May, 2021. She will attend the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, majoring in Computer Science and Crop Sciences, “a first of its kind major preparing students to revolutionize plant production systems in Illinois and across the globe using digital technology,” according to the university’s website. Tessa is an accomplished leader at ACHS, driven to succeed according to her guidance counselor. Her extra-curricular activities include National Honor Society, Student Ambassador to the D117 School Board, Math Team, Academic Team, Rotary Club Exchange Student, Madrigals, Interact Club, Volleyball, Theater and Student Leader. Her volunteer work includes volunteering with the Antioch Garden Club. She has a passion for plants and sustainable agriculture, as well as a love for computer science. With her Computer Science and Crop Sciences degree, she intends to help make agriculture more sustainable and reliable for people, locally and globally. We wish her the best on her future endeavors. Congratulations, Tessa Wolf!
We are pleased to announce three qualified recipients for the 2020 year of Nancy Zitkus Scholarship Award. The $500.00 each will be awarded to:
Brianna Zahn, a Lakes Community High grad attending University of Missouri, Columbia studying Environmental Science.
Ellie Haviland, an Antioch local student attending Carthage College majoring in Environmental Science.
Kyla Knauf, a returning student at University of SanDiego studying biology and the environment.
The 2019 Nancy Zitkus Scholarship recipient is Kyla Knauf, a Lakes Community High School graduate. She is currently studying at the University of San Diego with a major in Environmental Science. This is her 3rd time winning the scholarship as she qualified again this year on her excellent achievement at the college and in other horticultural-related areas.
The 2018 Nancy Zitkus Scholarship recipient is Kyla Knauf-a former graduate student from Lakes Community High school. She is currently studying at the University of San Diego with a major in Environmental Science. This is her 2nd time winning the scholarship from us. Congratulations, Kyla!
2018 scholarship recipient Kyla Knauf
The Antioch Garden Club is very pleased to announce that we have our winner for the Nancy Zitkus Scholarship Award of 2017. The name of the recipient is Kyla Knauf. She is a recent graduate from Lakes Community HS, finishing in the top 1% of her class with a 4.7 GPA and straight A's. Some of the awards and achievements she received include High Honor Roll, NLCC All-Academic Award for Varsity Tennis, Illinois State Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction, and Daily Herald All-Academic Team Honorable Mention. In her free time, she loves to go running, biking, weight lifting, play tennis, practice the piano, viola, or ukulele, and tend to her garden- consisting of over 30 varieties of vegetables, fruits, and flowers largely grown from seed. Currently, she is enrolled at the University of San Diego and planning to major in Environmental Science to further contribute to her love of nature and desire for national and global sustainability. Kyla Knauf attended the award ceremony and received the award certificate at our June 5th club meeting. Congratulations to Kyla Knauf!
Scholarship committee chairwoman joanne Dugenske annouces the AGC scholarship winner 2017 Kyla Knauf
Our 2016 Scholarship Award recipient is BERNARD KONDENAR of Antioch. He is a sophomore student at College of Lake County (CLC) where we have our Scholarship setup with the CLC Foundation. His major study has been horticulture with intent to pursue a BS and graduate in biological control of invasive species and in Permaculture system practices and design. In addition to being an exceptional student he is a family man with three small children and has his own farm business.
We are delighted to have such an outstanding recipient to accept this Award at the June 6th Antioch Garden Club Meeting.
2016 Scholarship Award recipient: BERNARD KONDENAR of Antioch