Twelve winners in the Draw Your Dreams scholarship contest were announced today by Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg, trustee of the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust (NEST), and First National Bank of Omaha, program manager of NEST. Winners received a total of $12,000 in scholarships.

Each of the 12 Draw Your Dreams winners received $1,000 deposited into a NEST 529 College Savings Plan scholarship account.

Draw Your Dreams, which ran from Sept. 1 through Sept. 30, was open to Nebraska students in the first through eighth grades. To qualify, students were asked to draw and submit 9- by 12-inch landscape-oriented pictures of what they dream of becoming when they grow up.

The Nebraska Art Teachers Association selected the 12 winners from more than 300 eligible entries. The scholarship winners are listed below:

“This is our fourth year of this contest, and we continue to get an overwhelming response. We are amazed at the beautiful artwork submitted by many very talented children across Nebraska,” said Deborah Goodkin, Managing Director, College Savings Plans at First National Bank of Omaha. “On behalf of NEST and First National Bank of Omaha, I would like to congratulate all of the winners for their inspiring drawings and for sharing their dreams of the future.”

“The children’s artwork inspires us in the Treasurer’s Office to make sure that families across Nebraska know about our excellent college savings program, called NEST, so that these children’s dreams and the dreams of thousands of others just like them can someday become reality,” Treasurer Stenberg said. “These pieces of art are vivid reminders of our commitment to encourage children to dream big and to help families make those dreams happen.”

About First National Bank of Omaha

First National Bank of Omaha is a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska. First National of Nebraska and its affiliates have more than $23 billion in assets and 5,000 employee associates. Primary banking offices are located in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas.

About NEST

NEST is a tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan and provides four plans to help make saving for college simple and affordable: NEST Direct College Savings Plan, the NEST Advisor College Savings Plan, the Bloomwell 529 Education Savings Plan, and the State Farm 529 Savings Plan. The Nebraska State Treasurer serves as Program Trustee. Union Bank & Trust Company serves as Program Manager, and all investments are approved by the Nebraska Investment Council. Families nationwide are saving for college using Nebraska’s 529 College Savings Plans, which have more than 285,000 accounts, including over 94,000 in Nebraska. Visit NEST529.com and treasurer.nebraska.gov for more information.