What is Young Texan/Texanne Corporation? A non-profit tax exempt 501(c)(3) corporation; a separate legal entity and not a subdivision of Optimist International. It was established in 1979 as a joint project of the South Central District and the North Texas District of Optimist International.
What is the purpose? The purpose us to give recognition to young people who are maintaining a high level of scholastic performance, participating in civic and church activities, community involvement and extracurricular activities.
Who comprise the Board of Directors? Board members must be members of Optimist Clubs in either the South Texas District or North Texas District.
How are students nominated? Clubs may nominate one young man and one young woman each month. Nominees are high school juniors.
How are local nominees selected for submission to the District? Clubs use Young Texan/Texanne criteria to select monthly nominees, whose resumes are then submitted to the District chairperson. Criteria are listed on the resume instruction sheet.
How are the monthly District winners selected? Chairman of the South Texas District and the North Texas District submit resumes of nominees to judges who, using the Young Texan/Texanne criteria, select a young man and young woman from each District each month from the resumes submitted by clubs. Judges are not members of Optimist Clubs. Winning resumes are then sent to the corporation President.
How is the final selection process made? A committee of judges reviews the nominees for each month submitted by the North Texas and South Texas Districts, and selects a Young Texan and Young Texanne for each calendar month. These monthly winners are then ranked, and the students with highest scores are chosen as Young Texan and Young Texanne of the Year. The final selections are announced at an annual spring banquet. Note that the process of judging at the district level and state levels takes time, and judging may be done quarterly. Therefore, there is a three-month time buffer for the judging, which means that students whose resumes are judged as winners at the district level for a particular month will be in the state competition for Youth Texan or Texanne for a later month. For example, the resumes for February District winners will be submitted for judging at the state level as competitors for Young Texan and Texanne for May; the March District winners will compete in the state competition for June, etc.
How much scholarship money is awarded? It depends on available funds. The awards are presented as vouchers. After the students present the vouchers to their respective colleges, the college submit the vouchers to the Young Texan/Texanne Corporation. The funds are then sent to the college for application to the students’ tuition fees.