Gardner In the spirit of giving to the community and fostering the educational goals of our youth, Austin Bank is proud to award $38,000 in college scholarships to 33 East Texas high school students

"All these outstanding students should be proud of their accomplishments and academic endeavors," said Jeff Austin III, Vice Chairman of the Board. "Austin Bank wants to commend them on their educational goals and their determination to achieve those goals.

"We are pleased to assist these students, their families and the East Texas Community by providing scholarship funds for education."

Honored at a May 12 luncheon, the senior students came from 23 high schools within the East Texas community that Austin Bank serves.

This year's recipients include 25 students from the community and eight students who are children of Austin Bank employees.

Scholarship recipients were selected based on scholastic achievement, extracurricular activity involvement, leadership qualities and an essay contest.

The 2008 Scholarship recipient from Bullard High School is James Gardner, the son of Wendell and Beth Gardner of Flint.

He will receive a $2,500 scholarship from Austin Bank.

Since the inception of the Austin Bank Commitment to the Community Scholarship program in 2005, Austin Bank has awarded a total of $97,500 to East Texas graduating seniors.

Austin Bank is a community bank headquartered in Jacksonville, Texas with assets in excess of $1 billion. Bank offices are located in 28 East Texas cities in nine counties.