Clarke Central High School varsity football team captain Dream Freeman, a senior, stands in front of the CCHS Ceremonial Entrance on May 12. Freeman was recognized as the recipient of the Dr. Miller Jordan Memorial Scholarship for the 2025-26 school year at CCHS’ Senior Honors Night on May 19. “He does everything we ask him. He’s always there, he does all his work, he’s really respectful. He knows when and when we can goof off and (when) we kind of need to be serious, and I appreciate that about him,” CCHS varsity football running back coach Jack Mangel said. Photo by Iliana Tejada
The recipient of the 2025-26 school year’s Dr. Miller Jordan Memorial Scholarship, a scholarship recognizing a student who experienced growth from freshman to senior year, is CCHS varsity football team captain Dream Freeman.
Dream Freeman, the captain of the Clarke Central High School varsity football team and a CCHS senior, is the recipient of the Dr. Miller Jordan Memorial Scholarship for the 2025-26 school year.
Freeman was recognized as the winner at CCHS Senior Honors Night on May 19 in E.B. Mell Auditorium.
“I’m more than honored to receive this scholarship. It just feels like I’m very important, and (like) I’ve done something to affect someone else,” Freeman said. “That’s why I’m a recipient of this. That’s my goal, to not only do things for me, but to give back to my community.”
Named after Jordan, a former CCHS Assistant Principal who served from 2000 until his passing in 2007, the scholarship was created to commend a graduating senior who had experienced notable growth since their freshman year.
“(Jordan) had an amazing talent for noticing those kids that had some obstacles in their past, or maybe didn’t see themselves as scholars or people who could even graduate from high school (and) go on to college, and he would take them under his wing and encourage them really make them have a turnaround,” CCHS school counselor Heidi Nibbelink said. “He was quietly instrumental in boosting people’s confidence and showing them a new way to be.”
Freeman was selected by a small committee composed of CCHS faculty, including Nibbelink, who determined the student who best embodied the improvement Jordan tried to empower in his students.
“(English department co-chair David Ragsdale) coordinates the committee, and I think he chooses people for the committee who had some connection to Dr. Jordan, or remember him or have similar gifts and talents for nurturing people,” Nibbelink said. “He puts it out to the whole faculty, asking for nominations for students and gives a little blurb about the type of student that we’re looking for. Then we meet as a committee, review the nominations and make recommendations.”
Freeman’s nomination stood out to the committee in particular, as he exhibited significant growth in maturity over his four years in high school.
“(In) ninth grade, I was a clown. I had the skills to get the job done, but I was focused on the social aspect and not really getting it done,” Freeman said. “10th grade was a bit better. I would say I had a flow state of (maturity). I really found my strong suits.”
Clarke Central High School varsity football team captain Dream Freeman, a senior, stands in front of Billy Henderson Stadium on May 12. CCHS school counselor Heidi Nibbelink serves on the committee dedicated to selecting a recipient for the Dr. Miller Jordan Memorial Scholarship each year. “Dream is someone everybody knows and has this reputation of being like a people person and a positive force. Everybody (on the scholarship committee) felt really good about choosing Dream as the representative,” Nibbelink said. Photo by Iliana Tejada
During his sophomore year, Freeman became involved in extracurricular activities at CCHS, including Gifted Minorities Achieving, a program to support academically gifted minority students academically, socially and emotionally.
“(I was) introduced into the (GMA) group by a friend of mine, AJ Lonon, and really (got) in there and (felt) like it was a place that I fit in. It was others that looked like me, basically the same background as me, and I knew them, but I didn’t know we were (the) same intellectually,” Freeman said. “Getting into a space where everybody is on the same page, we can all get the work done together (and) we all share different strategies (we) use.”
Through GMA, Freeman found an academic support system that changed his mindset toward education.
“I’d seen I could manage all my work without having to have someone on top of me (and) forcing me to get it done, then I took accountability into my own hands and started going to tutoring and things like that,” Freeman said. “I realized sports (aren’t) the only thing in the world, because without grades there’s no sports, so that was really my motivation there. I guess it just helped me grow (into both) what I wanted to be and who I needed to be.”
Freeman evolved from an outside linebacker in ninth grade to a defensive lineman in 12th grade, serving as a team captain for the 2025-26 season. Although he tore his ACL in an away game against Loganville High School on Oct. 10, 2025, he continued supporting teammates from the sidelines.
“I think he embodies good character, a hardworking guy. He balances football and school and he doesn’t let one affect the other. He could play in a game until 11:00 at night, and he’s back at school the next morning, giving 100% effort,” CCHS varsity football running back coach Jack Mangel said. “He doesn’t miss class very often. Stuff he does in school is as good as things he does on the field. I think that’s pretty cool about Dream.”
“I realized sports (aren’t) the only thing in the world, because without grades there’s no sports, so that was really my motivation there. I guess (GMA) just helped me grow (into both) what I wanted to be and who I needed to be.”
— Dream Freeman,
2026 Dr. Miller Jordan Memorial Scholarship recipient
CCHS varsity football defensive coordinator Joshua Dawson became an active mentor figure throughout Freeman’s athletic career after meeting in his eighth-grade year.
“I met (Dawson) in the weight room while training, and he was like, ‘When you get up here to go to high school, come talk to me.’ I talked to him. He (had) seen me play, and he (said) I’ve got the skill to do it, I just (have) to apply that to everything I do,” Freeman said. “That really helped motivate me, having someone that was in my corner and believed I could do it. He was willing to push me to my limits to help me get there.”
Many students, each of varying backgrounds, have received the Dr. Miller Jordan Memorial Scholarship since its founding in 2008, but all represent the qualities Jordan encouraged as he mentored students in need of redirection.
“The scholarship recipients over the years may not quite exactly fit (Jordan’s) profile, but there (are) still folks who started off high school heading one direction, and by the end of high school made a change or accomplished way more than one would have guessed,” Nibbelink said. “It’s about someone who’s maybe had trouble seeing themselves as super successful in whatever way we define successful, like a high school graduate or matriculating on to college.”
After high school, Freeman plans to attend Andrew College, where he will be playing on the football team and majoring in sports management.
“Hopefully, (I’m) still playing football, but if not (then I hope I’m) a football agent or (in) any type of sports agency. Maybe towards college, dealing with college players and helping them out with name, image and likeness because it’s become a big part of the game today,” Freeman said.
