Cameron Jones, a senior at Martinsville High School, has been selected as the Penn-Shank Memorial Scholarship winner for the current graduating class at MHS. The scholarship is worth up to $4,000 over the next four years.
Jones, who will attend Old Dominion University beginning in the fall, was senior class president at MHS and a Wendy’s High School Heisman award recipient. An avid swimmer, he qualified for the Junior Olympics in 2013 as a member of the USA Swim Team. A team captain of the MHS swim team since 2012, he broke school records in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard Individual Medley. He was also a member of the Martinsville Marlins club swim team and of the Bulldogs’ varsity indoor/outdoor track team, according to his scholarship application.
Jones plans to major in criminal justice at ODU with the goal of becoming a police officer and ultimately a member of the strategic task force unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he stated in his application essay. In 2016, he interned at the Martinsville Police Station.
Jones is the son of Jovita Saunders-Jones and the late Carlton Jones.
The Penn-Shank Memorial Scholarship is named in memory of the late Edwin G. Penn IV and Walker Shank, each of whom graduated from Martinsville High School in the spring of 2000. Penn, an Eagle Scout, went on to become a skilled carpenter and woodworker for Burr Fox Specialized Woodworking. Shank, who graduated from the University of Virginia with an economics degree in 2004, was a mortgage specialist living in Long Island at the time of his passing.
The merit-based scholarship is funded by Rooster Walk Inc., a community non-profit dedicated to promoting music, arts and education in Martinsville and Henry County. In seven years, Rooster Walk Inc. has donated more than $50,000 to the scholarship fund, plus an additional $40,000 to other local and regional charities, including the Rooster Walk Music Instrument Program. The company’s keynote event, the Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival, takes place this weekend.