Former Stratford standout, NFL receiver donates $1,000 to Bibb County teacher
Quintez Cephus, a former Stratford star, is making a difference in the lives of ones of his former Bibb County teachers.
The Detroit Lions wide receiver announced in a video on Monday that he would donate $1,000 to Valerie Grant, his former middle school teacher at Macon’s Weaver Middle School.
The donation will be used to help Grant with school supplies for the year. Cephus partnered with the College Football Playoff Foundation and the NFL Foundation on the donation.
Cephus thanked Grant for the impact on his life and education in the short video posted to his Facebook and Twitter accounts. He said that she helped him feel comfortable in being himself, even with the jump to a private school in Stratford.
Grant now teaches eighth grade at Miller Magnet Fine Arts Middle School in Macon. She told WGXA that she received a text message from Cephus on Monday along with the video. She said that she had to pull her car over on the side of the road because she was so overwhelmed with emotion.
“I can believe it, actually, because he’s that kind of individual; a very humble, very appreciative, young man,” Grant said in the WGXA interview. “To be honored by him in this way is just tremendous.”
Grant said that she had contacted Cephus after his first NFL game on Sunday but he never mentioned the surprise he had for her.
Cephus was in Grant’s class in 2010 and the two have kept in touch ever since. Grant has been there to help Cephus as he transitioned to Stratford and then once again when he moved on to play for Wisconsin after graduation. After starring for the Badgers, Cephus was selected by the Lions in the 2020 NFL draft in the fifth round.
Grant said that she is glad to have the additional funding for her classroom. Even though the Bibb County School District provides supplies, there are still items that teachers like Grant need throughout the year they pay for out of their own pocket.
“I plan to use the money for my classroom, share the wealth with my team teachers and other teachers here at the school,” Grant said. “Not all students have the same economic opportunities. So to be able to help them in this manner really means a lot.”