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Congresswoman Gonzalez encourages teachers to participate in internship with the federal Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

March 8, 2019

Washington, D.C. -Congresswoman Jenniffer González Colón, encourages personnel and faculty of educational institutions on the island to take advantage of the opportunity to intern in the Federal Capital for the federal Department of Agriculture under the program E. Kika De La Garza.

The E. Kika De La Garza program offers scholarships to teachers and staff of the so-called Hispanic Services Institutions (HSI) the opportunity to work collaboratively with the USDA for a better understanding of the federal government. Through the scholarship, participants learn about the opportunities at the USDA and other federal agencies that are available to their institutions and students.

Hispanic Service Institutions are universities or public schools that have at least 25% of Hispanics enrolled. In 21 states of the United States and in Puerto Rico, 400 institutions fall into this category, serving more than two million students.

Scholarships and High School Scholarships are for teachers and staff of HSI. High School Scholarships are for superintendents, principals, agricultural or district teachers who work for a school district that serves Hispanics. Participants attend a two-week program (June 17-28) in Washington, D.C.

Science Scholarships are for science teachers who will collaborate with leading scientists from the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) or the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Participants attend a one-week orientation in Washington, DC, and also associate with a USDA Research Center. The internship will be held from June 17 to July 3, 2019.

USDA has already started receiving applications for these scholarships; the deadline to submit the applications is March 20, 2019. For more information and to download the application please go to the following link: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/kika-de -the-heron-fellowship-program-application.pdf

Eligio (Kika) de la Garza II served in the House of Representatives from 1965 to 1997 as a congressman for Texas and was a full member of the Committee on Agriculture. In 1976, together with congressman Herman Badillo of New York (born in Puerto Rico), Henry B. González ofTexas, Edward Roybal of California and resident commissioner Baltasar Corrada del Río formed the Hispanic Caucus of the Congreso.usda

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