Elle Kenney of Cherokee High School and Matthew Caylor of Wheeler High School both received a $1,000 Positive Energy Award scholarship from Cobb EMC during the Positive Athlete Georgia awards ceremony at the College Football Hall of Fame last week. The Positive Energy Award is given to local student-athletes based on character and the positive energy they are able to bring to every practice and competition.

“We are so proud of Elle and Matthew and what they do for our communities,” said Kris Delaney, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Cobb EMC. “They are exceptional  role models for all students and demonstrate how to break through obstacles with hard work and positivity.”

Kenney, a senior at Cherokee High School, is a selfless lacrosse athlete with a 4.5 GPA and is ranked 17^th in her class. She is a four-year member of the Alpha Gamma Service Club, and serves on the Student Athlete Leadership team, as well as many other service clubs. Kenney has been a “Reading Buddy” at elementary schools for the past two years. Every Monday morning she goes to a fifth-grade class to plan acts of service for the students and staff at their school.

Caylor is a senior at Wheeler High School and rose from novice to expert in BMX racing competitions until breaking his leg last February. The break led to compartment syndrome and he was told that he would need emergency surgery to keep his leg and there was no guarantee of its future level of use. Through hard work, positivity, and his faith, Caylor made it back to racing in record time. He is passionate about telling his story of perseverance and hopes other students are able to learn from his positive outlook and challenging experience.

Nominations were received by Positive Athlete Georgia from coaches, principals, athletic directors, teachers, and parents representing all Georgia public and private high schools. This year, Falcons All-Pro kicker Younghoe Koo joined former University of Georgia and Pittsburgh Steelers star, Hines Ward, and local businessman Scott Pederson in this movement for more positivity in youth sports.

“We had a record number of over 6,000 nominations this year from 425 Georgia high schools,” said Pederson, President of Positive Athlete Georgia. “It’s nice to know we have so many high-character, teamwork-oriented leaders preparing to enter our workforce.”

In addition to excellence on the field, each nominated Positive Athlete was required to show characteristics such as an optimistic attitude, teammate encouragement, leadership, heart for others, ability to admit imperfections, and realizing the team is more important than the individual.