“Make it a Grand Week”- Olivia Lobertini, The Grand on Central

Ayers Foundation Senior Signing Day at Campbell County High School

A NOTE FROM THE GRAND ON CENTRAL: “There is so much good going on in our community, and I want to share all this good with you every Monday here on WLAF in hopes that you will start your week in a grand way making each week a Grand Week,” said Olivia Lobertini, owner of The Grand on Central.

By Charlotte Underwood

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF)- Thursday morning marked a momentous occasion with Campbell County High School Seniors participating in the Ayers Foundation Senior Signing Day ceremony. Seniors had their photos taken with the pennants of their chosen school and or branch of the military or workforce.

The Ayers Foundation provides the Ayers Scholars Program in Campbell County High School and Jellico High School. The Scholarship program is a “nationally recognized, highly effective college access and counseling program” now working in high schools across 21 rural Tennessee counties.

The program provides schools with full-time, trained college and career advisors who talk to students about dual enrollment, middle college and other opportunities such as military or career and workforce paths.

The foundation was started by Jim Ayers who grew up in rural West Tennessee in the town of Parsons. He was one of the first in his family to attend college and he later became “one of the state’s most successful and admired businessmen,” as well as a leading philanthropist. In 1999, he established The Ayers Foundation, which supports a wide range of programs and institutions, with an emphasis on education.

“We are really glad to be here, especially on the 50^th anniversary of Campbell County High School … Today is about our graduating seniors but also the guidance, support and opportunities that got you here and for that we want to thank the faculty and staff,” said Dr. Burton Williams, Ayers Foundation Trust CEO.

He said the program also focused on “helping students build meaningful lives and sustainable living; whatever that means to each student.”

The Ayers Foundation also recognized all students that are first generation secondary education students and students who are committing to the United States Military.

“I believe all of us are endowed with unique gifts and talents and the key to being successful is learning how to utilize those talents and gifts in a way that benefits other people in a way that ends up benefiting you…. your formal education is not going to end when you graduate high school, even when your education ends, you are still going to be learning…We will all take a different path in life, but what we need to realize is, whatever your skill set is, it’s valuable.  Society cannot function without all of these skill sets … no matter what you do, there is value to it,” Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs Thursday’s guest speaker said.

He thanked the Ayers Foundation for all they do for students in guiding them through post-secondary education opportunities.

“No matter what path your life takes you on, what you do is going to be incredibly valuable…successful people don’t quit. No matter what life throws at you, you have to keep going,” Jacobs said,”

Campbell County High School Senior Peyton Carroll-Cook also spoke on Thursday morning. He is Campbell County’s Questbridge Recipient and has been accepted into Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which has an acceptance rate of 4.5 percent.

Questbridge recipients are high achieving students who must be in the top five percent of their class and have a minimum of a 26 ACT score. Winners receive a four-year scholarship to a four-year university. Carroll-Cook was accepted into his top chosen school of MIT, which only accepts 10 Questbridge students each year.

Carroll-Cook thanked the Ayers Foundation Trust and the counselors for making opportunities available for CCHS students.

He made three points during his speech, saying that in life everything happens for a reason, including “every win, every loss and everything in between, it all builds on itself” and “your success is determined by how well you learn and adapt to what happens to you.”

“My mother always said, life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react, you can’t control life’s uncertainties, but you can control how you react… it’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up,” Carroll-Cook said.

He also encouraged his fellow seniors to “use their resources, take opportunities available to you and seek out help and be able to accept it.”

“Thirdly, find what you are good at and run with it…everyone has a talent, as soon as you find that talent, run with it and the rest will follow,” Carroll-Cook concluded.

A NOTE FROM THE GRAND ON CENTRAL: “There is so much good going on in our community, and I want to share all this good with you every Monday here on WLAF in hopes that you will start your week in a grand way making each week a Grand Week,” said Olivia Lobertini, owner of The Grand on Central.

For bookings, email Olivia Lobertini at ohlobertini03@gmail.com. Check on avails HERE. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-05/11/2026-6AM)