Portal Middle High Honor Graduate Receives $2.5K Hulsey Scholarship

Jaycee Sanchez, a 2022 honor graduate of Portal Middle High School, recently received the $2,500 Marion C. Hulsey and Terri Bell Hulsey Scholarship.

Sanchez was an active member of the school’s Beta Club, National FFA Organization chapter, and Student Government. As a student athlete, she also played softball, was a cheerleader, and was a member of the track and field team.

Sanchez dual enrolled at Georgia Southern University while in high school. She has chosen to remain at Georgia Southern to pursue a degree in Nursing at the university’s Armstrong campus.

Established by Portal Middle High School alumnae Marion C. Hulsey and his wife Terri, the couple hopes the scholarship will help young people on their education journeys. They hope to continue the tradition of Portal being home to successful and accomplished business owners and leaders.

“I’m so happy to be able to give back to the community,” said Marion Hulsey when the scholarship was created. “I hope that it will encourage others to remember growing up in this little town of Portal and to reach out to these young people to help them further their education so they can make the Portal community proud.”

Marion Hulsey is a 1968 graduate of Portal, and he was a member of the Panthers’ basketball and baseball teams. The Hulseys have strong ties to the Portal community, and they have supported the students and faculty at PMHS for many years, especially as members of the school’s athletic booster club.

The Marion C. Hulsey and Terri Bell Hulsey Scholarship of $2,500 is given each year to a Portal senior who plans to pursue a post-secondary degree. Seniors may apply annually, and a private screening committee established by the Hulseys review the applicants to select a recipient each year. The Hulsey’s endowed $50,000 to a trust to fund the scholarship, which is managed by Wells Fargo.

The Portal Middle High School Booster Club disburses the scholarship to the recipient. Portal’s Chandler Sheffield, who graduated in 2021, was the inaugural recipient of the Hulsey Scholarship.