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Minnesota Association of Townships announces 2023 Scholarship Program for high school juniors

The Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT) is proud to announce its 2023 Scholarship Program, which will award up to five $2,000 scholarships to high school juniors. All students currently enrolled in 11th grade and attending a Minnesota public, private, or parochial school, or a home-study program, are eligible to apply for this program. Since its inception in 2001, the MAT Scholarship Program has had over 2,500 submissions and 97 winners.
Applicants should submit a written essay using critical thinking on the topic of promoting awareness of township government by June 1, 2023. Winners will be chosen by an independent panel of judges and will be notified in September 2023. They will also be invited to attend MAT’s annual conference in December 2023 in St. Cloud.
The 2023 essay question on promoting township government is, “Representation of people and ideas is the hallmark of government in the United States. No level of government is as close to its constituents as the township. Today’s townships face several challenges, including decreasing populations, annexation pressures from cities, declining interest in public service, growing demands from constituents, and a distrust of government. Considering these challenges, what do you see as the future role of townships in local government?”

For more information and application details, please call the MAT offices at 1-800-228-0296 or visit https://www.mntownships.org/about/scholarship-program. A letter announcing this program has been sent to high schools, as well as newspapers statewide. We encourage township officers to also forward this information to high school juniors.
The MAT Scholarship Program has made a real difference for our recipients and has also been an opportunity to learn about township government, which embodies the values of ‘grassroots government’ where local citizens directly participate. We encourage as many high school juniors as possible to apply, whether they are from rural areas or urban cities.