My greatest achievement is filing suit against my school district due to racist and discriminatory practices. In November 2022 my life changed. In a whirlwind, my life as I knew it began to come crashing down. Some of my baseball teammates wrote, “We hate N*****’ on a locker in the baseball locker room. At the time, I was the only black player on the team. I was humiliated and hurt. My baseball coach at the time reported it to administration and they tried to sweep it under the rug. My mom went to the school to address it and was given the run around. The administration attempted to minimize the incident and how I felt. In January of 2023, after getting no where, my mom sat me down and asked me how I felt. I explained that I felt like I wasn’t valued at my school. She asked me would I be interested in filing a lawsuit against the school district for violating not only my rights, but of other minority students who were subjected to the demeaning and racist actions of our peers and district. I agreed, even though I knew there would be a lot of backlash and funny looks. We filed suit. I got to tell my story and advocate not only for myself, but for my peers. Some of them just endured the racist behavior, because they were afraid of retaliation by the school and the district. As a result of me standing up, several students and even some teachers approached me and commended or thanked me for demonstrating courage and standing up for what is right. Several of my peers have expressed to me that since I filed that suit, that they feel safer in school now and that they feel like they have a voice and are actually heard. Initially, I thought people would look at me funny or that I would be shunned in school. It turned out to be the opposite. As a result, students have become more vocal in advocating for themselves and even teachers are excited about the changes that are happening. Some other things that happened as a result of me taking the initiative to shed light on the racist actions of our district, including the hiring of more black teachers and administration than in the history of the district. The suit is still pending; and even though I have graduated and won't be subjected to the actions or inaction of the district, I am still committed to continuing the fight for students that are coming up behind me. I will always stand up for and did what was right. No matter how uncomfortable or unpopular doing the right thing may be in some situations, I will be remembered for always standing on the side of what is right. In my opinion, being right is bigger than right and wrong from a financial or political standpoint; it's about being committed to doing what is morally and ethically right, at all times. I hope to create strategies and solutions to address lack of affordable housing. I will invest in my community in an intentional and meaningful way by creating affordable housing in my community. I will commit to service to my fellow man, stay mindful that in order to be a true leader, one must first be a servant, as will be evidenced by my volunteer and charitable work. I will have returned to my rural community and become a part of the solution to help prevent the displacement of people who have called Effingham County home for most of their lives due to lack of affordable housing. To be impactful is always a goal of mine. To do it with integrity, character and intestinal fortitude in spite of the resistance or obstacles that may come is hard; but worth it. I wouldn’t trade any of the discomfort I experienced, unpopular views or sacrifices I made to obtain this outcome. Our school is a safer place for all students. We are now having healthy conversations in our district focused on continuing to making our district better and inclusive of all people. And though I am humbled by the experience, I smile when people tell me that people are better off because of me. And not from an ego standpoint either, it just feels good to achieve one of my goals, which is to touch the lives of someone everywhere I go, in thought, action or deed.

The Spirit of Giving “It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” ~MotherTeresa I have been involved with the nonprofit organization, Save Our Youth Savannah since about 2021. From the very beginning, it has been humbling and rewarding. I have volunteered over 100 hours of my time, offered support during events, donated goods to families in need, and showed up to offer my time and physical strength as needed. Though my family is not wealthy, we have always had what we needed; a roof over our heads, food to eat and clean clothes and shoes to wear. And as much as I appreciated my mother for providing my most basic needs, I developed a new found appreciation for all that my mom does. Most of the people who are recipients at the food and clothing drives that I volunteered at were either homeless or very close. Many lived in hotels, and often worried about where their next meal would come from or how they were going to pay the next night at the hotel. In those moments, I was humbled because something that I took for granted as a guarantee (warm roof over my head) wasn’t their reality. This fueled me to volunteer more and to become more committed to be available and accessible. I have donated out of my allowance to buy hats, gloves and socks for the drives, and out of my own closet. I spoke with the children who were there with their parents. Those encounters made me be more grateful for the opportunities that I had, like playing sports. Though I’ve always respected and admired my mom, a new level of appreciation and gratitude came when I realized that all the extracurricular activities that I was blessed to enjoy cost money. Yet, while I enjoyed the best of every sport, and other recreational activity that I wanted to participate in, some kids were struggling for the basics, like a roof over their heads, a meal, shoes and clothes to wear. After seeing this, I showed up more and served more, on purpose; trying to assess the need and see what more I could do. I showed up to countless events to pass out food, toys, school uniforms and supplies and also helped deliver groceries to the elderly. I was eager to understand the people and hear their stories, and to make sure that while I was helping that I never made them feel less than human. I wanted them to feel heard and seen, but more importantly, that they mattered. Volunteering with Save Our Youth Savannah made me put into full perspective and appreciate my mom and the sacrifices she made even more. My mom worked crazy hours to make up for the absence of support from my dad. The variety in my experiences, which she struggled to afford, helped me to grow into a well-rounded and balanced young man. My service also heightened my awareness of the issue with homelessness and the underserved. I will use my educational experience and talents to contribute to my community through ventures that effectively address the crisis of lack of affordable housing. I will invest in and create affordable housing in my community to pour back into my community in an intentional and meaningful way. I will return to my rural community and become a part of the solution to help reduce the displacement of people who have called Effingham County home for most of their lives due to lack of affordable housing. I

Meet Me, Jacques King: Up Close and Personal I am Jacques Xavier King. I am a senior at Effingham County High School in Springfield, Georgia. I am currently 64/460 students and will graduate in the top 15% of my class. I work hard, and strive daily to demonstrate the highest of character and integrity no matter where I am or who I am with. I have been an Honor Roll student from the day I enrolled in school. I have been active in sports since I was about 3- 4 years old. From playing recreational sports to high school varsity, I have been a lover of all things sports. In high school, I have played on the varsity football and baseball teams since ninth grade. In my junior and senior years for both sports. I earned First Team All Region in both football and baseball while maintaining a 3.875 GPA and enrolled in dual enrollment at Georgia Southern University. While playing sports and excelling in the classroom, I also earned a reputation as a role model in my school and community. People call on me to read to elementary students, mentor new students and being a positive representative for the school. I maintained a healthy balance but at all times remembered that I am a STUDENT-athlete, student coming first. Not only will I graduate in the top 15% of my class, I will graduate with college credits. Additionally, I was awarded free dual enrollment at Claflin University last summer via a grant from the NCR Foundation due to my academic achievement. I am active in the National Honor Society, Beta Club and Spanish National Honor Society. I especially take pride in the Spanish National Honor Society as I have taken Spanish since I have been in 8th grade and continued it through my junior year. I have been involved with Save Our Youth Savannah since about 2021. From the very beginning, it has been humbling and rewarding. I volunteered over 100 hours of my time, offered support during events, donated goods to families in need, and showed up to offer my time and physical strength as needed. Most of the recipients at the food and clothing drives that I volunteered at were either poor, homeless or very close to both. Many lived in hotels, and often worried about where their next meal would come from or how they were going to pay the next night at the hotel. In those moments, I was humbled because something that I took for granted as a guarantee (warm roof over my head) wasn’t their reality. My future aspirations are to study business administration and management to become a real estate broker with focusing on strategies to address lack of affordable housing. This scholarship would be such a blessing. Though my mom is employed, she has been a single mother since she and my dad divorced when I was 3 years old. Though I am sure she will make whatever sacrifice is necessary to allow for me to attend college; I have taken the initiative to excel in school and to apply for as many scholarships as possible. This is to help alleviate the financial responsibility and burden that my mom will undertake to assure that I get to attend college. This will help me with fees and other expenses that will surely surface, that won’t be covered by Pell.

My future aspirations are to study business administration and management to become a real estate broker with focusing on strategies to address the affordable housing crisis. I hope to implement innovative strategies that would create quality affordable housing. In my own community alone, life long residents are having to move to places with more affordable housing. It is my desire to return to my community and be a part of the solution so to help present the displacement of people who have called Effingham County home for most of their lives. It is important to me to be a part of the solution in my community, and using my degree and skills obtained during the course of earning it are of great importance to me too. To be impactful and effect positive change is always my goal. To do so with integrity, character and intestinal fortitude in spite of the resistance or obstacles that may come is hard; but worth it. I am committed to creating innovative, thought provoking marketing campaigns that will invoke healthy conversations in our community with the overall goal of providing more affordable housing that will make our community better and more inclusive. I have been involved with Save Our Youth Savannah since about 2021. From the verybeginning, it has been humbling and rewarding. Since that time, I volunteered over 100 hours of my time, offered support during events, donated goods to families in need, and showed up tooffer my time and physical strength as needed. Though my family is not wealthy, we havealways had what we needed; a roof over our heads, food to eat and clean clothes and shoes towear. Working with Save Our Youth was a constant reminder for me that in order to be a leader,I had to first learn to serve. The opportunity afforded to me by Save Our Youth Savannah to serve in our community is one of the highlights of my high school experience.Most of the people who are recipients at the food and clothing drives that I volunteeredat were either homeless or very close. Many lived in hotels, and often worried about where theirnext meal would come from or how they were going to pay the next night at the hotel. In those moments, I was humbled because something that I took for granted as a guarantee (warm roofover my head) wasn’t their reality. This fueled me to volunteer more and to become more committed to be available and accessible. It also strengthened my compassion for others and humility. The most important part of my character that was sharpened, was my integrity. In theprocess of helping these families who were down on their luck, I was very mindful not to reveal their identity or any other factors that may reveal their identity. I also made sure not to discuss their circumstances, as they trusted this organization and those working for the organization notto share their personal information. I was and remain careful to offer the help without being judgmental or asking unnecessary questions. Instead, I focus on spreading positivity and being available and accessible to assist in any way needed. I shine my light through volunteerism and service. I recognize that the greatest quality of a leader is the ability to serve. I believe that a community is only as great as its smallest part.

If I could change one thing in my life, it would be the divorce of my parents. Though it may seem like a small matter to the world, it was the whole world for me. The day my parent’s divorce became final turned my world upside down; and everything that I thought I believed about life; especially my life came crashing down. It started a war within me, one that I never signed up for. I am often asked about my father; my response is always the same; “ Imagine having to grieve the death of a person that is still alive.” The day they divorced, also turned out to be a funeral for the father-son relationship and bond. At that time, I didn’t realize how much it would impact me, but the older I get, I realize that I constantly grieve the loss of my father; though he lives less than an hour away from me. I don’t remember too much about my dad being around, because I was only 3 when the divorce happened. But, I do have some pictures that seem to suggest that during the time that they were married, that he was an amazing father. My favorite is one of him holding me at my 2nd birthday party and we were both smiling so big. I often wonder what it is about me that made him not only divorce my mom, but me too. I used to text him often; but the older I got, I stopped; unless he texted me first. I would send messages explaining that I loved and missed him, only to be dismissed or spoon-fed some pitiful excuse about why he couldn’t come see me, come to my games, come to my award ceremonies or let me come spend the night at his house. He never made an effort and over time I expected the disappointments, let downs and excuses. All of my friends’ dads would be at games, take them to practice, throw the ball and play catch with them; and my father wouldn’t even come see me. The resentment grew, and then one day it hit me; that I was grieving the loss of someone still alive. And that hurt. The fact that every day he makes a choice to ignore me, pretend I don’t exist or not make me a priority, still hurts. It hurt at age 5 when I would look for him at my little league games; it hurt at age 12 when I looked for him when I hit my first home run. It still hurt at 18, as I cried when he wasn’t there to help me fix my tie as I got dressed for homecoming and prom. And I’ll admit, that it knocked the wind out of me, when I walked off the field on graduation night, and he wasn’t there. The little boy in me wanted him to be there waiting at that gate to hug me and tell me how proud he was of me. I wanted him to want me. Yet, only my mother was there, like she always is; with tears in her eyes. Divorce changed my life forever. I lost my dad and grieve his loss daily, even though he is still alive.

My mother has always instilled in me the value of education. She taught me, through her long work hours, a strong work ethic and the importance of maintaining my character and integrity at all times, no matter how hard or uncomfortable it may be. I have made Honor Roll every nine weeks since first grade. She never allowed me to do the bare minimum and had high expectations of me. She did not tolerate mediocrity or complacency in any area of my life, especially school work. This is why education is so important to me. Because of my mother's teaching, it is a part of the very fiber of my being and a huge part of why I value it so much. I firmly believe that in order for me to effectuate change and make an impact in the community is to become invested in it. A college education is a great way to invest in your community by learning all things new. In high school, we were taught a particular curriculum that was designed to teach all students the same things. But a college education will allow me to individually craft my course load and the information that I will have access to. The possibilities are endless and as such, I can form my own ideas and opinions about the world, as opposed to those that were given to me without the option to object. That academic freedom will also give me the opportunity to identify what I see as problems and use the information that I gain with my education to cause change and positively impact my community. Sydney J. Harris once said, "the purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows." I believe this to be true. A college education will help me grow and thrive to see the world from other perspectives beside my own. It will allow me to learn about different cultures and ideas so that I can use them to help understand differences as opposed to being judgmental. The college experience will prepare me for the diversity in the world by, 1) further developing my compassion for others and 2) helping me be able to effectively work and communicate with people of different backgrounds and belief systems. The invaluable experience of free thinking and lifelong learning will greatly further my goal of returning to my community and invoking positive change that will impact the lives of the people. Finally, a college education will be my way to honor my grandparents and other ancestors who were unable to attend college but made countless sacrifices to make it possible for me. Though my mother attended college, I will only be the fourth person in our family tree to attend college. However, I will only be the 2nd to graduate. I don't take any of the sacrifices for granted and am committed to honoring them through my continued higher education.

In November 2022 my life changed. In a whirlwind, my life as I knew it began to come crashing down. Some of my baseball teammates wrote, “We hate n*****s on a locker in the baseball locker room. At the time, I was the only black player on the team. I was humiliated and hurt. My baseball coach at the time reported it to administration and they tried to sweep it under the rug. My mom went to the school to address it and was given the run around. The administration attempted to minimize the incident and how I felt. In January of 2023, after getting nowhere, my mom sat me down and asked me how I felt. I explained that I felt like I wasn’t valued at my school. She asked me would I be interested in filing a lawsuit against the school district for violating not only my rights, but of other minority students who were subjected to the demeaning and racist actions of our peers and district. I agreed, even though I knew there would be a lot of backlash and funny looks. We filed suit. I got to tell my story and advocate not only for myself, but for my peers. Some of them just endured the racist behavior, because they were afraid of retaliation by the school and the district. As a result of me standing up, several students and even some teachers approached me and commended or thanked me for demonstrating courage and standing up for what is right. Several of my peers have expressed to me that since I filed that suit, that they feel safer in school now and that they feel like they have a voice and are actually heard. Initially, I thought people would look at me funny or that I would be shunned in school. It turned out to be the opposite. As a result, students have become more vocal in advocating for themselves and even teachers are excited about the changes that are happening. Some other things that happened as a result of me taking the initiative to shed light on the racist actions of our district, including the hiring of more black teachers and administration than in the history of the district. To be impactful is always a goal of mine. To do it with integrity, character and intestinal fortitude in spite of the resistance or obstacles that may come is hard; but worth it. I wouldn’t trade any of the discomfort I experienced, unpopular views or sacrifices I made to obtain this outcome. Our school is a safer place for all students. We are now having healthy conversations in our district focused on continuing to make our district better and inclusive of all people. And though I am humbled by the experience, I smile when people tell me that people are better off because of me. And not from an ego standpoint either, it just feels good to achieve one of my goals, which is to touch the lives of someone everywhere I go, in thought, action or deed.

In November 2022 my life changed. In a whirlwind, my life as I knew it began to come crashing down. Some of my baseball teammates wrote, “We hate n*****’ on a locker in the baseball locker room. At the time, I was the only black player on the team. I was humiliated and hurt. My baseball coach at the time reported it to administration and they tried to sweep it under the rug. My mom went to the school to address it and was given the run around. The administration attempted to minimize the incident and how I felt. In January of 2023, after getting nowhere, my mom sat me down and asked me how I felt. I explained that I felt like I wasn’t valued at my school. She asked me would I be interested in filing a lawsuit against the school district for violating not only my rights, but of other minority students who were subjected to the demeaning and racist actions of our peers and employees and administration in the district. I agreed, even though I knew there would be a lot of backlash and funny looks. We filed suit. I got to tell my story and advocate not only for myself, but for my peers. Some of them just endured the racist behavior, because they were afraid of retaliation by the school and the district. As a result of me standing up, several students and even some teachers approached me and commended or thanked me for demonstrating courage and standing up for what is right. Several of my peers have expressed to me that since I filed that suit, that they feel safer in school now and that they feel like they have a voice and are actually heard. Initially, I thought people would look at me funny or that I would be shunned in school. It turned out to be the opposite. As a result, students have become more vocal in advocating for themselves and even teachers are excited about the changes that are happening. Some other things that happened as a result of me taking the initiative to shed light on the racist actions of our district, including the hiring of more black teachers and administration than in the history of the district. The case is still pending, and though I am about to graduate, I will finish the suit to its conclusion. This suit is bigger than me and I hope the changes that result from it will continue to change in this district. I also hope it will honor my former baseball coach who reported it, as he was wrongfully terminated after this. To be impactful is always a goal of mine. To do it with integrity, character and intestinal fortitude in spite of the resistance or obstacles that may come is hard; but worth it. I wouldn’t trade any of the discomfort I experienced, unpopular views or sacrifices I made to obtain this outcome. Our school is a safer place for all students. We are now having healthy conversations in our district focused on continuing to make our district better and inclusive of all people. And though I am humbled by the experience, I smile when people tell me that people are better off because of me. And not from an ego standpoint either, it just feels good to achieve one of my goals, which is to touch the lives of someone everywhere I go, in thought, action or deed.

I love all things real estate. My future aspirations are to study marketing with a minor in business administration and management to become a real estate investor/ broker with focusing on strategies to address the current crisis of lack of affordable housing. I acknowledge that it will be very critical that I have an understanding of the fundamentals of business that will be necessary for me to successfully run my business. I hope to be able to develop my ability to negotiate in real estate brokering and sales. And though I do have every intention of becoming prosperous in my business ventures, I intend to utilize my gifts and talents to contribute to my community by way of developing strategies to effectively design and develop affordable housing. I have been involved with the non-profit organization, Save Our Youth Savannah since about 2021. From the very beginning, it has been humbling and rewarding. I have volunteered over 100 hours of my time, offered support during events, donated goods to families in need, and showed up to offer my time and physical strength as needed. Though my family is not wealthy, we have always had what we needed; a roof over our heads, food to eat and clean clothes and shoes to wear. Most of the people who are recipients at the food and clothing drives that I volunteered at were either poor, homeless or very close to both. Many lived in hotels, and often worried about where their next meal would come from or how they were going to pay for their next night stay at the hotel. In those moments, I was humbled because something that I took for granted as a guarantee (warm roof over my head) wasn’t their reality. This fueled me to volunteer more and to become more committed to be available and accessible. I intend to implement innovative marketing strategies to attract partners, to include local government and agencies, to join in my efforts to produce quality affordable housing. In my own community alone, life long residents are having to move to places with more affordable housing. It is my desire to return to my community and be a part of the solution so to help present the displacement of people who have called Effingham County home for most of their lives. It is important to me to be a part of the solution in my community, and using my degree and skills obtained during the course of earning it are of great importance to me too. To be impactful and effect positive change is always my goal. To do so with integrity, character and intestinal fortitude in spite of the resistance or obstacles that may come is hard; but worth it. I am committed to creating innovative, thought provoking marketing campaigns that will invoke healthy conversations in our community with the overall goal of providing more affordable housing that will make our community better and more inclusive.

My future aspirations are to study business administration and management to become a real estate broker with focusing on strategies to address lack of affordable housing. My focus would be on business management and finance. Though I don’t need a college degree to enter into this field, I know that it will be very important that I have an understanding of the fundamentals of business and business practices that will be necessary for me to successfully run my business. I hope to be able to develop my ability to negotiate in real estate brokering and sales. This is important because it would allow me to be able to be hands on in all aspects of my business. Though I do have every intention of becoming prosperous in my business ventures, I intend to utilize my gifts and talents to contribute to my community through ventures in affordable housing. One of the ways that I have demonstrated a commitment to my goals is to sign up for a real estate course that I will take over the summer prior to me starting my freshman year of college. Upon completion of the course and successful passing of the exam, I will earn my real estate sales license. Also, over the summer, I will shadow a local realtor, Lateka Green to learn more about the real estate business. This is a stepping stone for me breaking into the real estate business to include investing, developing and brokering. Currently, the cost of living is rising much faster than the wages. There is a crisis regarding affordable housing. People are working full time jobs and still can’t afford suitable housing for themselves and their families. Even people with college degrees are having to work multiple jobs just to make rent or find suitable housing since many landlords are requiring income 3 times the amount of the rent. In a market where rent is extremely high, people are struggling to qualify for affordable housing. Investing in affordable housing in my community would not only benefit my business but would also allow me to pour back into my community in an intentional and meaningful way. Using my degree to address this real crisis in my community is important to me and would be a great way to honor it and everything that it poured into me while in high school. I am being proactive by currently preparing to take a real exam course to obtain my license, to intern with a local realtor and shadow a real estate developer this summer prior to starting school. I will use this summer to not only prepare for college and collegiate baseball, but also to learn and understand the basic tenets of something I love so much. More importantly, It is my desire to return to my community and be a part of the solution to help prevent the displacement of people who have called Effingham County home for most of their lives due to inability to afford housing. It is important to me to be a part of the solution in my community, and using my degree and skills obtained during the course of earning it are of great importance to me.

I am the only child of my mother, and unfortunately haven’t had a relationship with my father since he and my mother divorced when I was three years old. I play varsity football and baseball at my school and have received honors in both sports. I do this while maintaining a 3.875 GPA and being in the top 11% of my graduating class. I’ve been blessed to earn some college credits while in high school due to my academic achievements via dual enrollment at Georgia Southern University. In November 2022 my life changed. In a whirlwind, my life as I knew it began to come crashing down. Some of my baseball teammates wrote, “We hate n*****’ on a locker in the baseball locker room. At the time, I was the only black player on the team. I was humiliated and hurt. My baseball coach at the time reported it to administration and they tried to sweep it under the rug. My mom went to the school to address it and was given the run around. The administration attempted to minimize the incident and how I felt. In January of 2023, after getting no where, my mom sat me down and asked me how I felt. I explained that I felt like I wasn’t valued at my school. She asked me would I be interested in filing a lawsuit against the school district for violating not only my rights, but of other minority students who were subjected to the demeaning and racist actions of our peers and district. I agreed, even though I knew there would be a lot of backlash and funny looks. We filed suit. I got to tell my story and advocate not only for myself, but for my peers. Some of them just endured the racist behavior, because they were afraid of retaliation by the school and the district. As a result of me standing up, several students and even some teachers approached me and commended or thanked me for demonstrating courage and standing up for what is right. Several of my peers have expressed to me that since I filed that suit, that they feel safer in school now and that they feel like they have a voice and are actually heard. Initially, I thought people would look at me funny or that I would be shunned in school. It turned out to be the opposite. As a result, students have become more vocal in advocating for themselves and even teachers are excited about the changes that are happening. Some other things that happened as a result of me taking the initiative to shed light on the racist actions of our district, including the hiring of more black teachers and administration than in the history of the district. To be impactful is always my goal. To do it with integrity, character and intestinal fortitude in spite of the resistance or obstacles that may come is hard; but worth it. I wouldn’t trade any of the discomfort I experienced, unpopular views or sacrifices I made to obtain this outcome. Our school is a safer place for all students. We are now having healthy conversations in our district focused on continuing to making our district better and inclusive of all people. And though I am humbled by the experience, I smile when people tell me that people are better off because of me. And not from an ego standpoint either, it just feels good to achieve one of my goals, which is to touch the lives of someone everywhere I go, in thought, action or deed.

For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated with buildings, the way they look, how they’re built, and the materials used to build them. I have since grown to love all things real estate. My future aspirations are to study business administration and management to become a real estate broker with focusing on large scale investment strategies to address lack of affordable housing. I acknowledge that it will be very critical that I have an understanding of the fundamentals of business for me to successfully run my business. I hope to be able to develop my ability to negotiate in real estate brokering and sales. And though I do have every intention of becoming prosperous in my business ventures, I intend to utilize my gifts and talents to contribute to my community. This scholarship would be such a blessing to myself and my family. Though my mom is employed, she has been a single mother since I was 3 years old. I have taken the initiative to apply for as many scholarships as possible to help alleviate the financial responsibility that my mom will undertake to assure that I get to attend college. My mom is the most amazing person I know. My mother and father divorced when I was only three years old, and it seems that he divorced me too. Since that day, my mom has single-handedly raised and financially provided for me. Just about everything that I know, I learned from my mom. Whether it was by hands on learning or teaching through actions and words, my mom is the most inspirational and strongest person I know. I admire her, because in my eyes, she is a superhero. The most important thing she taught me was the value and importance of building and maintaining my character and integrity. She demanded respect and that I respect everyone around me. It was not up for debate. She held me to a high standard and instilled in me that I was a representation of her everywhere I went. It was her voice in my head that was often the tie-breaker when I was faced with making a bad decision. Though I loved sports, she made it clear that academics were my priority and made sure I remembered that I was as a STUDENT-athlete. She did not tolerate mediocrity or complacency in any area of my life, especially school work. My mother has always instilled in me the value of education. She taught me, through her long work hours, a strong work ethic and the importance of maintaining my character and integrity at all times, no matter how hard or uncomfortable it may be. Its her sacrifices and her parenting that has allowed me to be a well rounded young man that has learned to build and nurture healthy friendships and relationships with people from all walks of life because of the character and integrity I’ve developed under her wings. Its all these lessons my mom taught me that will most definitely be vital to my success. The most amazing part about that, is that she didn't just preach it to me, she lived it and I learned more by watching her than listening.

I have been a captain on the baseball and football teams both my junior and senior years. Being on a sports team, where the ultimate best outcome was not dependent on one person taught me lots of valuable lessons. As a member of the team, you develop trust in your coaches and teammates. When I became a captain, the dynamics remained the same but changed at the same time. At all times, I conduct myself as a role model. I uphold the highest standard of integrity and keep it and my character in check at all times. I make decisions always thinking of how it will not only affect me now, but long term. That is one of the biggest impacts that being a team captain has had on me. I recognized and acknowledged that it's never just about me. I embraced the responsibility that came with it. Whether I was on a field, a hallway in school, in the classroom, at an extracurricular activity or out in public on my own personal time, I accepted the responsibility that came along with being a captain/leader of my team. It meant that I was a representative of our team wherever I went. It meant that I was to be held accountable for my actions individually, but for those of my teammates when we fell short. I embraced it and worked every day to live up to the standard that our team expected and one that my teammates could look up to if they ever needed a reminder of who we were and stood for. I took great pride in being recognized by our staff as a student of impeccable character. As a captain of my squad, I had the privilege of engaging in community service and leading by example with service and sacrifice. As a leader, I was committed to sacrificing so that others around me could be successful. In my mind, that is the epitome of an effective leader. One of the most important things I learned is that humility and respect will open doors. Despite being one of the best players on the team, I carried myself with no ego, and genuinely set out to love and respect each one of my teammates and coaches knowing that it would be returned. This humility gained me the respect of my peers, teammates, coaches and staff who had no hesitation in making recommendations for me for college and scholarship applications. Being a captain of high performing varsity sports teams has strengthened even more, an already strong work ethic. My overall goal is to become a successful educator that will ultimately strive to teach and reach children. I hope to be impactful in shaping young lives through sharing my skills, gifts and experiences to help encourage and build future leaders. I am especially grateful to my first baseball coach, David Kelly who has remained a constant and present source of inspiration and guidance through his life teaching and walk. I am blessed that I can still pick up the phone and call him at any time. His teaching and influence have helped shaped my life as not only a baseball player, but as a man.

My name is Jacques King. I am a senior at Effingham County High School in Springfield, Georgia. I am the only child of my mother, and unfortunately haven’t had a relationship with my father since he and my mother divorced when I was three years old. I play varsity football and baseball at my school and have received honors in both sports. I do this while maintaining a 3.875 GPA and being in the top 11% of my graduating class. I’ve been blessed to earn some college credits while in high school due to my academic achievements via dual enrollment at Georgia Southern University. In November 2022 my life changed. In a whirlwind, my life as I knew it began to come crashing down. Some of my baseball teammates wrote, “We hate n*****’ on a locker in the baseball locker room. At the time, I was the only black player on the team. I was humiliated and hurt. My baseball coach at the time reported it to administration and they tried to sweep it under the rug. My mom went to the school to address it and was given the run around. The administration attempted to minimize the incident and how I felt. In January of 2023, after getting no where, my mom sat me down and asked me how I felt. I explained that I felt like I wasn’t valued at my school. She asked me would I be interested in filing a lawsuit against the school district for violating not only my rights, but of other minority students who were subjected to the demeaning and racist actions of our peers and district. I agreed, even though I knew there would be a lot of backlash and funny looks. We filed suit. I got to tell my story and advocate not only for myself, but for my peers. Some of them just endured the racist behavior, because they were afraid of retaliation by the school and the district. As a result of me standing up, several students and even some teachers approached me and commended or thanked me for demonstrating courage and standing up for what is right. Several of my peers have expressed to me that since I filed that suit, that they feel safer in school now and that they feel like they have a voice and are actually heard. Initially, I thought people would look at me funny or that I would be shunned in school. It turned out to be the opposite. As a result, students have become more vocal in advocating for themselves and even teachers are excited about the changes that are happening. Some other things that happened as a result of me taking the initiative to shed light on the racist actions of our district, including the hiring of more black teachers and administration than in the history of the district. To be impactful is always a goal of mine. To do it with integrity, character and intestinal fortitude in spite of the resistance or obstacles that may come is hard; but worth it. I wouldn’t trade any of the discomfort I experienced, unpopular views or sacrifices I made to obtain this outcome. Our school is a safer place for all students. We are now having healthy conversations in our district focused on continuing to making our district better and inclusive of all people. And though I am humbled by the experience, I smile when people tell me that people are better off because of me.

In my 18 years of living, I’ve learned that besides God, there is no one that I can depend on like my mom. My mother and father divorced when I was only three years old, and it seems that he divorced me too. Since that day, my mom has single-handedly raised and financially provided for me. Just about everything that I know, I learned from my mom. Whether it was by hands on learning or teaching through actions and words, my mom is the most inspirational and strongest person I know. I admire her, because in my eyes, she is a superhero. My mom worked crazy hours to make up for the absence of support from my dad. She did that and still managed to attend every PTA, book fair, field day, school performance, sports events, games and practices. And the most amazing part of it all; I never saw her complain. She tried extremely hard to reduce the impact of the absence of my father; like tossing the football and baseball with me, playing basketball with me and even talking to me about girls. This helped build my confidence. My mom made so many sacrifices. She worked to make sure that I had everything I needed. Despite my dad not showing up or providing any financial support, she made sure that I didn’t miss out on anything that I desired to do. I’ve played every sport, tried playing violin and piano, taken French lessons, and had so many other opportunities because of her sacrifices. She never discouraged me from pursuing anything, no matter how crazy it may have seemed at the time. She just allowed me to grow, thrive and experience life at my pace. The variety in my experiences helped me to grow into a well-rounded and balanced young man. The most important thing she taught me was the value and importance of building and maintaining my character, integrity and strong work ethic. She demanded respect and that I respect everyone around me. It was not up for debate. She held me to a high standard and instilled in me the importance of first appearances and looking the part. It was her voice in my head that was often the tie-breaker when I was faced with making a bad decision. Though I loved sports, she made it clear that academics were my priority and made sure I remembered that I was as a STUDENT-athlete. She did not tolerate mediocrity or complacency, and always demanded my best, in any area of my life, especially school work, constantly demanding I give 100% in all I did. In a nutshell, she raised a man; all by herself; with no help from my dad, who chose to be absent. Because of her leadership and teaching, I will graduate in the Top 10% of my class, play varsity football and baseball, earn credits from Georgia Southern University before I graduate high school via dual enrollment and so much more. More importantly, my mom’s sacrifices allowed me to be a well rounded young man that has learned to build and nurture healthy friendships and relationships with people from all walks of life because of the character and integrity I’ve developed under her wings.

I have been involved with Save Our Youth Savannah since about 2021. From the very beginning, it has been humbling and rewarding. I volunteered over 100 hours of my time, offered support during events, donated goods to families in need, and showed up to offer my time and physical strength as needed. Though my family is not wealthy, we have always had what we needed; a roof over our heads, food to eat and clean clothes and shoes to wear. And as much as I appreciated my mother for providing my most basic needs, I developed a new found appreciation for all that my mom does. Most of the people who are recipients at the food and clothing drives that I volunteered at were either homeless or very close. Many lived in hotels, and often worried about where their next meal would come from or how they were going to pay the next night at the hotel. In those moments, I was humbled because something that I took for granted as a guarantee (warm roof over my head) wasn’t their reality. This fueled me to volunteer more and to become more committed to be available and accessible. I have even donated out of my allowance to buy hats, gloves and socks for the drives. I speak with the children who are there with their parents. Those encounters made me be more grateful for the opportunities that I had, like playing sports. Though I’ve always respected and admired my mom, a new level of appreciation and gratitude came when I realized that all the extracurricular activities that I was blessed to enjoy cost money. At the time, I never thought about that, because all I had to do was show up to my practices or games. Yet, my mom had struggled to pay fees, buy equipment and uniforms etc. And while I enjoyed the best of every sport, and other recreational activity that I wanted to participate in, some kids were struggling for a basic meal, shoes and clothes to wear. I helped deliver groceries to the elderly. I was eager to understand the people and hear their stories, and to make sure that while I was helping that I never made them feel less than human. I wanted them to feel heard and seen, but more importantly, that they mattered. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve with Save Our Youth Savannah. This organization does a great work in the Savannah area. Its commitment to the community is amazing. It is my hope that the local government and agencies will take notice of the clients we serve and offer more resources to be able to assist.

I am Jacques Xavier King. I am a senior at Effingham County High School in Springfield, Georgia. I am currently 64/460 students and will graduate in the top 15% of my class. I work hard, and strive daily to demonstrate the highest of character and integrity no matter where I am or who I am with. I have been an Honor Roll student from the day I enrolled in school. I have been active in sports since I was about 3- 4 years old. From playing recreational sports to high school varsity, I have been a lover of all things sports. In high school, I have played on the varsity football and baseball teams since ninth grade. In my junior and senior years for both sports. I earned First Team All Region in both football and baseball while maintaining a 3.875 GPA and enrolled in dual enrollment at Georgia Southern University. While playing sports and excelling in the classroom, I also earned a reputation as a role model in my school and community. Not only will I graduate in the top 15% of my class, I will graduate with college credits. I have been involved with Save Our Youth Savannah since about 2021. From the very beginning, it has been humbling and rewarding. I volunteered over 100 hours of my time, offered support during events, donated goods to families in need, and showed up to offer my time and physical strength as needed. Though my family is not wealthy, we have always had what we needed; a roof over our heads, food to eat and clean clothes and shoes to wear. Most of the people who are recipients at the food and clothing drives that I volunteered at were either poor, homeless or very close to both. Many lived in hotels, and often worried about where their next meal would come from or how they were going to pay the next night at the hotel. In those moments, I was humbled because something that I took for granted as a guarantee (warm roof over my head) wasn’t their reality. This fueled me to volunteer more and to become more committed to be available and accessible. My future aspirations are to study business administration and management to become a real estate broker with focusing on strategies to address lack of affordable housing. I acknowledge that it will be very critical that I have an understanding of the fundamentals of business that will be necessary for me to successfully run my business. I hope to be able to develop my ability to negotiate in real estate brokering and sales. And though I do have every intention of becoming prosperous in my business ventures, I intend to utilize my gifts and talents to contribute to my community by developing strategies to effectively address the lack of affordable housing. This scholarship would be such a blessing. Though my mom is employed, she has been a single mother since she and my dad divorced when I was 3 years old. I have taken the initiative to excel in school and to apply for as many scholarships as possible to help alleviate the financial responsibility and burden that my mom will undertake to assure that I get to attend college. This will help me with fees and other expenses that will surely surface, that won’t be covered by Pell.

In my 18 years of living, I’ve learned that besides God, there is no one that I can depend on like my mom. My mother and father divorced when I was only three years old, and it seems that he divorced me too. Since that day, my mom has single-handedly raised and financially provided for me. Just about everything that I know, I learned from my mom. Whether it was by hands on learning or teaching through actions and words, my mom is the most inspirational and strongest person I know. I admire her, because in my eyes, she is a superhero. My mom worked crazy hours to make up for the absence of support from my dad. She did that and still managed to attend every PTA, book fair, field day, school performance, sports events, games and practices. And the most amazing part of it all; I never saw her complain. She tried extremely hard to reduce the impact of the absence of my father; like tossing the football and baseball with me, playing basketball with me and even talking to me about girls. This helped build my confidence. My mom made so many sacrifices. She worked to make sure that I had everything I needed. Despite my dad not showing up or providing any financial support, she made sure that I didn’t miss out on anything that I desired to do. I’ve played every sport, tried playing violin and piano, taken French lessons, and had so many other opportunities because of her sacrifices. She never discouraged me from pursuing anything, no matter how crazy it may have seemed at the time. She just allowed me to grow, thrive and experience life at my pace. The variety in my experiences helped me to grow into a well-rounded and balanced young man. As amazing as I’ve painted my mom to be to this point, she is even more amazing and admirable. She taught me the alphabet, to count, to read, to tie my shoe strings, how to properly brush my teeth and bathe, sports and about the birds and the bees; but the most important thing she taught me was the value and importance of building and maintaining my character and integrity. She demanded respect and that I respect everyone around me. It was not up for debate. I remember being punished, and her reminding me that “it wasn’t because of what I had done, but because I had lied.” She held me to a high standard and instilled in me that I was a representation of her everywhere I went. It was her voice in my head that was often the tie-breaker when I was faced with making a bad decision. Though I loved sports, she made it clear that academics were my priority and made sure I remembered that I was as a STUDENT-athlete. She did not tolerate mediocrity or complacency in any area of my life, especially school work. In a nutshell, she raised a man; a good man, an honest man, a man of dignity and good character, all by herself; with little to no help from a village and none from my dad. I will graduate in the Top 10% of my class, play varsity football and baseball, earn credits from Georgia Southern University before I graduate high school via dual enrollment and so much more. More importantly, my mom’s sacrifices allowed me to be a well rounded young man that has learned to build and nurture healthy friendships and relationships with people from all walks of life because of the character and integrity I’ve developed under her wings.