Calera High School star football player ShaKeith Tyes was recently honored as the recipient of the Ken and Betty Joy Blankenship Student Achievement Athlete of the Year Award as part of the Bryant-Jordan Student-Athlete Program. The award recognizes an athlete who has overcome extremely difficult circumstances to achieve success in their chosen sport, in the classroom, and in life. 

Tyes, a senior, has overcome a challenging childhood to become a student leader both on and off the field.  When he was in middle school, he and his younger siblings moved in with his uncle, Matthew Stafford.  His parents were routinely incarcerated, leaving the children with no one to care for them and very little food at their home.  Stafford has provided a secure home for Tyes and his siblings ever since.

Tyes has a 3.0 grade point average, is a volunteer firefighter with the City of Montevallo, and is very active in his local church.  He also set some impressive records on the football field his senior senior, running for 2,268 yards and finishing as Calera’s all-time leader in rushing yards, touchdowns, yards per carry and total offense.  Those stats also make him the 14th most successful running back in the state’s history.

“ShaKetih is one of those kids who makes everyone around him better,” said Principal Joel Dixon. “He possesses a positive attitude and a humble, team-oriented mindset.  He brings his best effort to everything he does every day, be it academics, athletics, or community events. His spirit, coupled with the influence of his coaches, teachers, family members, and church members, has set him on a road toward success.”

Tyes, who won over $8,500 in scholarships for the Bryant Jordan honor, plans to play football at Highland Community College in Kansas in route to his ultimate dream of playing for an SEC school.

Braxton Stokes, another senior football player at Calera High School, was also honored through the Bryant Jordan Scholarship Awards program.  Stokes, was the recipient of a $2,500 scholarship as the Class 5A, Region 4 Academic Achievement award.  Stokes, who maintains a 4.18 GPA, plans to attend Georgia Tech this fall on a full-ride $85,000 scholarship and major in Mechanical Engineering.

“Last week, I told Shakeith and Braxton to plan on being speakers at our commencement ceremony a few years down the road,” said Dixon.  ” I am extremely proud of them both.”