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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-Sept. 10, 2002
Contact: John Johnson or Randy Allen
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Sept. 10 - The long relationship between the Michigan High School Athletic Association and Farm Bureau Insurance continues into the 2002-03 school year, as the two parties recently agreed to a continuation of the corporate partnership.

The cornerstone of the partnership is Farm Bureau Insurance's underwriting of the MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award, which enters its' 14th year in 2002-03. The Scholar-Athlete Award annually presents 24 $1,000 college scholarships, one in each sport in which the Association sponsors a post-season tournament. Approximately 3,000 student-athletes with 3.5 or better grade point averages (on a 4.0 scale) annually apply for these scholarships. Since the program's inception in the 1989-90 school year, $252,000 in scholarships have been awarded.

"One of the areas in which Farm Bureau Insurance has made its mark in Michigan is its support of education," said MHSAA Executive Director John E. "Jack" Roberts. "The Scholar-Athlete Award recognizes the work of our top student-athletes, our leaders of tomorrow, and we're pleased to have Farm Bureau Insurance continue its partnership with us in that area."
Farm Bureau Insurance's other programming in the educational community includes its own America & Me Essay Contest for Michigan eighth graders; and its sponsorship of the All Children Exercising Simultaneously (ACES) at the elementary school level, which involves over 400,000 Michigan students.

"We believe strongly in investing in Michigan young people and Michigan's future," said Larry Thomas, executive vice president of Farm Bureau Insurance. "Our partnership with the MHSAA fits right in with that goal. As a company, we work to make Michigan a safer and healthier place."

The sponsorship will also help the MHSAA underwrite some of the costs of its Finals souvenir program series.

Farm Bureau Insurance, one of Michigan's major insurers, has a statewide force of 350 agents serving more than 380,000 Michigan policyholders. Besides providing life, home auto, farm, business and retirement insurance, the company also sponsors lifesaving, real-time Doppler weather tracking systems in several Michigan communities.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,300 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.

(MEDIA ADVISORY - For more information about Farm Bureau Insurance, contact Luke Schafer, Public Relations Manager, at 517.323.7000)