Laken White, a senior soccer player from Caldwell County High School, has been named one of the two Most Outstanding Agricultural Athletes in Kentucky to receive a scholarship through a partnership between the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA).
On Friday, Kentucky Ag Commissioner Ryan Quarles recognized White and five other scholarship winners center–court at the 2023 UK Healthcare Boys‘ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
The KHSAA and KDA offered two $2,000 scholarships to the Most Outstanding Male and Female Ag Athletes in Kentucky and four $1,000 scholarships to two male and two female Kentucky Ag Athletes of the Year.
To be eligible for this scholarship, student-athletes had to be involved in Kentucky agriculture; participate in one or more KHSAA sports or sports activities during the 2022-2023 school year; be graduating seniors in high school; and be accepted to a college, or university, or trade school following graduation. Although an agriculture major was not required, preference was given to applicants accepted to Kentucky colleges; however, out-of-state institutions were considered if the student was seeking a specialized degree in an agriculture field.
According to Quarles, funding for the scholarships comes from the KDA’s “Ag Tag” program, which is funded by voluntary donations from Kentucky motorists when they buy or renew their farm vehicle license plates. No state taxpayer dollars are used to fund the scholarship awards.
In addition to this honor, the Kentucky FFA Foundation announced in March of 2022 that White was a recipient of a $500 Spring 2022 Supervised Agriculture Experience Launch Grant awarded to 84 students across the state due to donations from the Steele Reese Foundation, First Southern Bank, Owensboro Grain, and the Mulhollem Cravens Foundations.
White has been a part of the Caldwell County Lady Tiger soccer team since her seventh-grade year. She also is an active member of the Caldwell County High School FFA chapter and has held numerous leadership positions.
