Mrs. Yvonne Matthews (Woman of Virtue Award)
Assistant Principal.....Williamson High School Mobile, Alabama
Mrs. Yvonne Matthews, the founder of the gospel singing group- Nu Image, former choral instructor at John L. LeFlore School of Communication and Arts, and administrator at LeFlore, Citronelle, Blount, Theodore and Williamson high schools, is also music coordinator for Nazaree Full Gospel Church in Mobile, Alabama.
Yvonne, along with Nu Image, sponsors Youth On the Winning Side, a music event for youth and young people that has become a Gulf Coast tradition. Yvonne's life has been filled with music. From the age of three when she performed her first song in church, to the present, music has carried her from state to state, out of the country, to college campuses, to concert halls, to parks, to theaters, to churches and synagogues. Her classical training at the University of South Alabama where she received a Bachelor of Music degree in piano and a Master of Education degree, and her upbringing in church music (her father - a pianist, her mother - a songwriter) at Saint Joseph Baptist Church, have produced a musician who ventures into many genres of music and the theatrical arts. Most recently, she has become a member of Bella Voce, a choir of female singers who perform classical music, and she was the musical director for Hear the Voices Ring, a Black History production that was presented in January of this year at the Saenger Theatre.
Yvonne's personal philosophy of education has always included the motto that "no child will be left behind," and she contributes all of her success to God and to a supportive family.