American Crystal awards $10,000 scholarship to Moorhead High senior
May 29, 2015
Moorhead High senior Laura LeGare received a big surprise Thursday, May 28, on her final full day of classes — one that she and her family are sure to remember for a long time.
It started when Lisa Borgen, American Crystal’s vice president of administration, walked into LeGare’s Advanced Placement English class accompanied by LeGare’s family, representatives from Moorhead High, and a news crew from WDAY TV.
Borgen congratulated LeGare on receiving American Crystal’s $500 scholarship earlier at Moorhead High’s awards ceremony. Borgen added that LeGare’s name was entered into a blind drawing with American Crystal’s 47 other $500 scholarship winners in the Red River Valley for a chance to win a $10,000 memorial scholarship named after Al Bloomquist. Bloomquist was instrumental in transforming American Crystal from a privately held sugar company into the nation’s first grower-owned beet sugar cooperative.
Borgen announced that LeGare had won the drawing, and the class erupted with applause as LeGare accepted her scholarship certificate.
LeGare is the daughter of Sue and Dave LaGare of Dilworth, Minn. Next fall she will study mathematics and music at Concordia College in Moorhead. While at Moorhead High, LeGare achieved a 3.99 GPA and ranked 11th in a graduating class of 371 students. She was also an active choir member and participated in math league.
American Crystal’s scholarship program began in 2008 as one of several community-focused initiatives. Since that time the company has awarded approximately $185,000 in scholarships to nearly 350 deserving students and intends to continue the program into the future. This is the third year of the $10,000 Bloomquist Memorial Scholarship, which began in 2013 in conjunction with American Crystal’s 40th year as a cooperative.
Next year’s graduating seniors can apply for the 2016 American Crystal Scholarship through their high school counselor’s office.
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Jeff Schweitzer, American Crystal Sugar Company
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