SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS BIOS
Turlock Garden Club awarded six $1,000 scholarships and three $500 scholarships this year. These recipients have been announced at their respective awards ceremonies.
Congratulations to all 2025 recipients!
Left to right: Turlock Garden Club Scholarship Chair Pat Weisel, 2025 scholarship recipients Elijah Rhoads, Rylie Rice and TGC Scholarship Committee member Darlene Runsten.
TGC Scholarship Chair Ardie Feucht with 2025 scholarship recipient
Gary Coldicutt.
Joseph Oliveira with TGC Scholarship Committee member Allison Aldax.
Zachary Christianson with TGC Scholarship Chair Cyndi Sims.
Our 2025 Turlock Garden Club Scholarship Recipients
Khloe Alberto
Khloe is a 2025
graduate of
Hughson HS. She
plans on attending
MJC majoring in AG
Science. Her goal is to become an Agriculture teacher. She has been a leader in FFA, has outstanding grades and lives on her family’s third generation dairy farm in Hickman.
Zachary Christianson
Zac is a 2025
graduate of Denair
HS. He plans on
attending MJC and transferring to CSU Chico to obtain a BS in Agriculture Science, with a goal of earning a teaching certification and becoming an Agricultural Adviser. He also wants to complete as many Career Technical Education Certifications as he can. This will help him be better able to advise and teach his future students.
Joseph Oliveira
Joseph graduated
from Hilmar HS in
May 2025. He grew
up on a dairy and
worked at the dairy
and his family’s almond orchards from a young age. He has been in leadership roles in FFA and won many awards. He was also Hilmar High School’s Winter Homecoming King. He plans to attend Cal Poly and major in Agriculture Systems Management and minor in Ag Business. He wants to also earn a Certification of Engineering. His goal is to become an Agriculture Engineer and return to the Central Valley to start his own business.
Gary Coldicutt
Gary graduated from Hughson HS in May
2025. He has been
very active in Hughson
FFA and is a member of
the Farm Power Team. Gary represented his school in the Occupational Olympics and won first place. He was FFA Aggie of the month last October. He has a job at the Fruit Yard, and played football, but still managed to be on the Honor Roll all 4 years of high school. Gary’s goal is to go to MJC and then to Montana State and get a bachelor’s degree in Diesel Technology. He will then return to the Central Valley, to help out our local farmers, as an expert on all kinds of farm machinery.
Elijah Rhoads
Elijah graduated
from Pitman HS in
May 2025. He has
been heavily involved
in many aspects of FFA, (including leadership roles), the TUSD farm, speech competitions, and raising swine. Elijah has devoted over 1,229 hours to his Supervised Agricultural Experience work, and also volunteered at many community events. He plans to attend MJC and get an AA degree in Agricultural Sciences.He wants to then transfer to either Cal Poly or Fresno State and major in either PCA (Pest Control Management).
Rylie Rice
Rylie graduated from
Pitman HS in May
2025. She has been
involved in FFA,
Student Government,
Community Service,
organizing local and school events. She is a straight A student, taking AP classes and partici-pating in the dual immersion Spanish program. Rylie was the student representative on the TUSD Board. She trained, showed and bred Yorkshire Terriers, Miniature American Shepherds, Turkeys and Sheep. Rylie plans on attending UC Santa Barbara and for a degree in Actuarial Sciences and minor in Agricultural Business. She wants to work using Data Science to solve world agricultural issues to increase crop yields and feed more people.
Gina Mancebo
My name is Gina
Mancini and I am
originally from Hilmar,
graduating in 2022 with
above 4.00 GPA . Currently, I
am a junior at CSU Fresno majoring in Agricultural Education with an emphasis in Agricultural Mechanics. I transferred from Merced College with an Associate for Transfer in Agriculture Animal Science, graduating with Honors. My plan is to pursue a teaching credential after graduation in Spring 2026 to become a high school agriculture teacher. I am passionate about educating the next generation of ag leaders and currently work at the CSU Fresno Swine Unit and am also involved in the Youth Cattlemen’s Association. I am grateful for this scholarship, which supports my academic and career aspirations.
McKayla Aiken
McKayla is finishing
her first year of
college at UC Davis,
where she is majoring
in International Agricultural Development, with plans to specialize in Economic Development and Ag Production.She would like to travel overseas after graduation and educate others on sustainable agriculture techniques in developing communities. She maintained a 4.00 GPA Fall quarter. She was able to work PT seasonally at a Christmas tree farm near UC Davis where she was able to transfer the skills that she had acquired working on her grandparents’ Christmas tree farm.
Larynne M. Holland
Attends CSU
Fresno and is
majoring in
Agricultural Education.
She would like to teach
at the high school level after completing her degree. She plans to graduate next May and then begin the teaching credential program. She is working as a student assistant to graduate students in the plant science division. Her research projects involve pistachios and oranges. She graduated from Hilmar HS where she was very involved with FFA. She then attended MJC for two years and continues to achieve a high GPA at CSU Fresno.