Hall Of Fame Scholarships

The Board of Directors of the Jackson County Sports Hall of Fame is happy to announce their Class of 2019 scholarship recipients. Each year, the board selects a female and male recipient from applications submitted by student-athletes from high schools in Scottsboro and Jackson County.

This year’s recipients are Ms. Josie Thompson from North Jackson High School and Mr. Anakin Stone Yates from North Sand Mountain High School.
Josie Thompson is the daughter of Gerald Thompson and Becky Williams. She will graduate from North Jackson High School (NJHS) in May and plans to attend Wallace State Community College on a softball scholarship. She plans to receive a B.S. Degree in Elementary Education. She ranks second in her class of 111. While attending NJHS, she received the Miss North Jackson High School Honor Award, All-County Basketball, All-Area Basketball, and First-Team All-State-Softball Award. Thompson participated in high school sports from 2014-2019 playing both basketball and softball for four years and playing softball an additional two years. She was Co-Captain for the 2018 and 2019 varsity softball team. Thompson’s other honors include the following: North Jackson Beta Club President, Academic Excellence Committee, Mu Alpha Theta, and Yearbook Staff.

Anakin Stone Yates is the son of Frank and Angie Yates. He is a North Sand Mountain (NSM) Bison and will graduate this spring. Yates plans to study Mechanical Engineering in college. He ranks number one in a class of 70. Yates is a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball, and baseball while in grades nine through twelve. His athletic accomplishments in football include 2016 All-Region, 2016 Prep Star Magazine Academic, All-American/All-SE Region, 2018 All-Region, 2018 Second Team All-State, 2018 Team Captain. In basketball, he served as the 2018 Team Captain, and he was selected to the 2018 All-Region Team. His academic honors and clubs include the following: National Youth Leadership Forum-Engineering, GA-Tech, First Southern Bank Board, Sand Mountain Electric Coop Annual Youth Tour Day Competition Winner, Jackson County Junior Leadership, Alabama Lions Club Leadership Forum, Troy University, Congress of Future Scientists & Technologists, Boston MA, NSM Class President for freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years, Student Government Senior Representative, Future Farmers of America, Honor Court Participant, Science Club, Future Business Leaders of America, Senior Beta Club, Math Team, Mu Alpha Theta, Personal Responsibility in Daily Excellence Club, Gold Card Recipient Each Year, and Fellowship of Christian Students.
Over 30 applicants applied for consideration of these scholarship offerings. Thompson and Yates will each receive $1,000 toward their continuing education.
The Jackson County Sports Hall of Fame Scholarship program began in 2017 thanks to a donation from the family of the late Larry Nevels. Mr. Nevels was a student-athlete from Scottsboro High School who was able to attend Florence State (now North Alabama) on a basketball scholarship. Nevels taught and coached in both the Jackson County and Scottsboro school systems before going into business for himself.