All the way from Knoxville, Tenn., Brooks Humphrey was chosen as the seventh and eighth-grade winner for the young achievers award. The announcement was made at the 30th annual Encouraging Excellence in Education Awards celebration, by the Loudon County Education Foundation. The celebration occurred on March 21, 2024.
Humphrey is the son of Erika Thornhill and grandson of Catherine Wilson and Anita Wilson, all of whom are from Columbia or nearby towns.
There were 212 students that were nominated for the Young Achiever Award out of 4,000 students. It was narrowed down to the top-20, then down to a top-5 category, which then had to go before a panel of judges. The No. 1 student and winner was then chosen as Brooks Humphrey. He was awarded multiple gift cards and a college scholarship, as well as an opportunity to travel to Washington D.C.
Humphrey is a student at the ILearn Institute in Lenoir City School. His teacher, Rachel Ogle, said “Brooks is an exceptional student and achieves top grades in all of his subjects. He is always eager to learn more. He is kind, helpful and brings a positive attitude to school and to his community, whether it’s on the football field or both inside and outside the classroom. He also wants to contribute towards making the world a better place.”
Humphrey’s role models are God, who saved him from a ruptured appendix at the age of 3, and his mother who raised him as a single parent and always takes care of others before herself. Humphrey hopes that one day she knows how much he looks up to her and strives to be the same kind of human being that she role models for him. His third role model is his Meemaw, Catherine Wilson, who taught school for more than 30 years and is loved universally, as can be witnessed by all the people who stop her to tell her the difference that she has made in their lives. She has so much to be proud of at the age of 90 and Humphrey wants to be just like her and his mother.
Humphrey’s future goals include following his cousin Haley’s footsteps to become an attorney to help those wrongfully convicted and continue his athletic career as a college football player for Ole Miss. He hopes during that journey he can also be a role model to others, but his most important goal is to make his Momma proud.
