John Rhodes, TN Scholarship Recipient

Feb 5, 2025

By Cindy Baugher

John Rhodes of Paris, Tennessee, has lofty goals for himself and has worked diligently on achieving those goals. He was recently awarded the Tennessee Division scholarship through the Police Benevolent Foundation and is proud of himself for the accomplishment. “This will help to make college much more affordable to me. It makes me think that my dreams for the future won’t be so hard to reach.”

John is presently attending High Point University in High Point, North Carolina. The school is ten hours from his home and John said, “I picked it because it has an amazing campus and feels safe. It also has a focus on business and life skills, which I think is perfect.”

John Rhodes, scholarship recipient, with his parents, Ken and Kate Rhodes, during move-in weekend at High Point University.

John also earned the Presidential Scholarship awarded at Highpoint. This will help him afford the tuition at the private, out-of-state university. For this scholarship designation, John had to maintain good grades and test scores as well as demonstrating leadership and community involvement and succeed in a personal interview.

His extracurricular involvement during his time at Henry County High School helped John stand out as a deserving and well-rounded candidate. He participated in DECA (an organization which seeks to help high schoolers develop business skills, leadership, and career readiness). He also volunteered his time at various events coordinated by the Salvation Army, Kiwanis, the REAL Hope Youth Center, and Holy Cross Catholic Church.

John Rhodes with dad, Ken, on the stage of the local venue while helping out with the 40th annual Holy Cross Catholic Church Octoberfest.

Part-time work kept John busy while also enabling him to save for college. He worked at a local farm and wedding venue for a year and a half. Staying physically fit is another priority for him as he earned his black belt in karate and has worked out with a local cross fit group for the past two years.

John joined the Investment Club once enrolled at HPU and was also selected for the Business Fellows program which provides students an “experiential, team-based scholastic business experience with like-minded students” and helps him get priority scheduling for business related classes. The organization recently recognized John’s accomplishments with an additional sum of scholarship money as well.

Marketing is John’s major. This is a shift from his original major of graphic design, which he decided may not be a safe bet given the recent increase in AI-produced art. His plan is to also do a master’s program in communications to help pave the way for a job “as soon as I can get out of college.”

Ken and Kate Rhodes with son, John, after the High Point University Fall Convocation Ceremony for incoming freshmen.

When he’s not busy with school and extracurriculars, John enjoys working out, playing video games and artistic endeavors, which he says he’s never really practiced at, but is “just a really decent artist by default for some reason.”

John credits his family with being “loving Christians who always encouraged me to do my best and encouraged me to be active in and out of school. I always feel loved and love them. My brother and cousin who live with us are two friends to me and are great to live with. My brother Landon plays sports, basketball and football, Drew and I prefer the gym for exercise/activity.”

“My parents have shown me the purpose of keeping my faith,” John said, “and they inspire determination in me to succeed.”

Ken Rhodes, John’s father, is a PBA member whose membership qualified John to apply for the PBF scholarship. He is a 28-year veteran of law enforcement and notes that the PBF scholarship program is an added benefit of being a part of the PBA.

John Rhodes receives a check from SSPBA board member David Rose. John is from Paris, Tenn., and is attending High Point University where he will be majoring in marketing. Congratulations, John!

Ken said, “John has always excelled in academics. I never thought he would choose a college ten hours from home.  I am proud of the fact that he purposely put himself outside his comfort zone. High Point University is very safe (I made sure of that!) and is the ‘Premier Life Skills University.’  This is important for youth today. I am very excited for his future opportunities. We are very thankful for the financial assistance of the PBF scholarship.”