Sign shaker given $20,000 full ride college scholarship

Montez Jones of Louisville, Kentucky was going about his day as a human billboard, enthusiastically dancing while holding a sign advertising Colbert Ball Tax Service, when he received a huge gift from a passerby.

The sign man is dedicated to his job and told WDRB, “I don't care what the weather is, I'm coming to work." Perhaps it’s that devotion that caught the attention of Reverend Kevin Cosby, the President of Simmons College of Kentucky, a small and historically black Bible college. Rev. Cosby was driving by 29-year-old Mr. Jones as he did his job, and stopped to talk to the man. He described Jones as a, "human billboard, gyrating. I mean, totally depersonalized."

Jones explained, "A black car just pulled up, and he said, 'Do you know who I am, young man?' I said, 'No sir.'" The reverend introduced himself to Montez and offered him a $20,000 full ride scholarship and the opportunity to attend Simmons College. But why extend that offer to Montez Jones? Rev. Cosby said it was to, "Show [Jones] what confidence, hard work, discipline and being around the right environment can do for a person and if he can do it he becomes my example that anyone can be successful." The prospective student’s success could benefit them both, especially with the college anticipating full accreditation from the U.S. Department of Education, within months.

Montez said that as a child he dreamed of being a doctor, but his circumstances, "living in the streets," and an arrest ended it. “With my background, it was over. My dreams were crushed,” said the sign shaker. He’s hopeful and grateful for the sudden opportunity saying, "It's like me being a newborn. Start my life all over again, fresh. Hopefully this might be a good start for me you know what I’m saying. I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it and run with it though. I ain't going to let [Rev. Cosby] down."

Video and more info: WDRB