AmericanHort HortScholars Program Now Accepting Applications
January 14, 2019 
The 2018 HortScholars
AmericanHort’s 2019 HortScholars program is now accepting applications through March 1 from students in horticulture-related degree programs of any degree level. Students wishing to apply can do so online.
HortScholars is a seven-day program that sets students in horticulture on a path to success by exposing them to the breadth of the horticulture industry, its opportunities, and its leaders at Cultivate’19. The program offers a beyond-the-classroom experience, insight and awareness of the industry, and professional development via education sessions, networking, and working with industry mentors.
In 2018, AmericanHort received a record number of applications from students across the nation in top-level horticulture programs. Each year, the student’s applications show passions as vast as the horticulture industry. HortScholars’ majors have ranged from Horticultural Plant Production to Sustainable Plant Systems and from Landscape Architecture to Genetics.
HortScholars spend seven days in Columbus, OH, prior to and during Cultivate’19 with paid-for meals, lodging, and an all-access pass to Cultivate, as well as a one-year membership with AmericanHort. They experience the behind-the-scenes logistics of readying the Columbus Convention Center for Cultivate and have exclusive opportunities for in-depth discussions with industry leaders, including the AmericanHort Board of Directors. These meetings provide HortScholars with insights into the industry and valuable contacts for their professional networks moving forward in their careers.
“The HortScholars program connected us with important figures in the industry which helped me build my confidence in networking with new people,” says Daniel Greenwell, a 2017 HortScholar who has now graduated and gone on to become the Horticulture Program Director at Piedmont Technical College. “More important than anything, in my fellow 2017 HortScholars, I gained five amazing new friends and peers from very diverse backgrounds that I would never have met otherwise.”
Following the application window, AmericanHort’s GenerationNext Community Connectors will evaluate the applications, then choose 12 finalists who will provide a short video on why they want to be a HortScholar. The six 2019 HortScholars will be chosen from those finalists.
“HortScholar alumni have become valued members of the horticulture industry,” says Mary Beth Cowardin, AmericanHort Vice President of Marketing and Member Engagement. “Whether they are running their own business, making new strides in crucial research, or pushing the limits of how horticulture products are marketed and shared, HortScholar alumni are the upcoming movers and shakers of the horticulture industry.”
Questions about the 2019 HortScholars Program can be directed to Katie Gustafson.
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