Angleton senior Matt Rankin was the first recipient of the Angleton Alumni Association scholarship.  The competitive scholarship, which will be offered annually,  is open to any Angleton High senior who had a parent or grandparent attend Angleton schools.

His father, Murphy Rankin, is a graduate of the Class of 1967 and his mother, Chere, graduated in 1980.   His grandparents, aunts and uncles also attended AHS.

Matt plans to attend Blinn College at Bryan, with plans to transfer to Texas A&M. He would like to become a game warden.

“I grew up hunting and fishing and being outdoors,” he said.  “I would like to continue doing that plus help out communities.”

He credits his high school studies in agriculture science as inspiring him to choose his career.

“I especially enjoyed studying wildlife and forests,” he said.  “Ag classes cover a lot.  I earned my boating license and pesticide license while in ag.”

In addition to being in FFA all four years, he was also a member of the varsity golf squad.

He said he was very appreciative of the alumni scholarship and other local scholarships he received. “I have gotten a lot of community support,” he said.  “It is nice to know people care.”

The majority of the money for the Alumni Scholarship was raised by selling raffle tickets for a quilt made from extra t-shirts from the Good-Bye Tour held on the Downing Road campus before much of it was demolished in 2010.   The quilt, which was pieced by Joyce Hudman, was won by Debra Morris of the Class of 1972.   Morris recently donated the quilt to the Angleton Schools History Center.