Contact: Marla Martin, Communications Manager, or Jeff Zipper, Vice President of Communications; 407/438-400, ext. 2326 or 2314

Florida Association of Realtors® Offers Seniors a Chance to Win Up to $10,000 in College Scholarship Awards

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 8, 2008 – Attention Florida high school seniors: Time is running out for you to win up to $10,000 to help pay for college tuition next year. Better start writing – there’s only a month left until the March 7, 2008, deadline to enter the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR) 2007-2008 Scholarship/Essay Contest for High School Seniors, which offers a total of $106,000 in scholarship funding.

Students must write a typed, double-spaced essay, 500 words or less, on the topic, “How Does a Realtor® Professional Benefit the Community?” This topic gives students a wide range of real estate professional fields to write about, including residential brokerage, commercial brokerage, industrial and office brokerage, farm and land brokerage, real estate appraising, property management, land development and real estate counseling, to name just a few of the specialties.

FAR’s scholarship program benefits students from across the state, with prize money going to the first-, second- and third-place essays in each of the Association's 13 districts in the state. Students turning in the top district-winning essays will each win a $5,000 scholarship prize while the second-place entries will each receive a $1,500 scholarship award. Students will be recognized for winning third in each district with a $500 scholarship award. The 13 district-winning essays then compete to win three $5,000 FAR scholarships on the statewide level, for a total of $106,000 in scholarship awards. All essays, along with an official Essay Cover Form, must be postmarked no later than March 7, 2008, and mailed to the Florida Association of Realtors, 7025 Augusta National Drive, P.O. Box 725025, Orlando, FL, 32872-5025.

“This scholarship program offers Florida Realtors the opportunity to demonstrate their dedication to their community by helping young people continue their education and realize their dreams for the future,” says 2008 FAR President Charles “Chuck” Bonfiglio. “There’s a side to the real estate profession that often goes unheralded – Realtors do a lot more for the community than people may realize. Now in its eighth year, our successful scholarship program is just one example.”

FAR’s statewide scholarship awards program is open only to high school seniors who reside in the state of Florida and plan on continuing their education at any college, university, technical school or other institution of higher learning. Children whose parents or guardians are licensed real estate practitioners are not eligible for contest entry; nor are children whose parents or guardians are employed by any local Realtor board/association or by the Florida Association of Realtors®.

Scholarship contest rules and the official essay cover form are available at public and private senior high school guidance offices throughout the state. Or students, parents, teachers – anyone – can go to FAR’s Media Center Web site (http://media.floridarealtors.org) to download the required essay cover form, list of FAR District Vice Presidents and other scholarship/essay contest materials.