From class clown to class leader with the help of an education choice scholarship

TAMPA – One of Margene Avery’s first moves as principal at Tampa Bay Christian Academy was to install a student government. For junior class president, she chose Joshua Brutus, an immensely popular yet irresponsible student who was content to coast through high school.

Joshua summed up his reaction in one word: “Me?”

“My freshman, sophomore year, I don’t want to say I was the class clown, but I was the class clown,” Joshua said. “I never got any big responsibilities. But to step into those shoes, I was surprised.”

The teachers and administrators at the pre-K through 12 private school saw Joshua’s potential. Avery felt that putting him in charge of his class would turn Joshua into a serious student.

“When he applies himself, he really does well,” Avery said. “He has a great common sense as well as intellectual capacity.”

Joshua, 17, now a senior, attends TBCA on a scholarship for private schools managed by Step Up For Students.

While surprised at his appointment, Joshua was also energized by the confidence shown in him by Avery and TBCA Head of School Matthew Peavyhouse. He went from being the class clown to being class leader, from being a lethargic student to one who earns A’s and B’s.

“He’s become a man that I am proud is graduating from this school,” Peavyhouse said. “He’s grown a great deal, more than anything, character wise. He’s become a strong young man.”

Joshua has big plans for his future: a college education, possibly a career as an electrical engineer. He wants to start a nonprofit to help Black boys in economically struggling communities around Tampa transition from middle school to high school. He wants to show the same belief in them as the TBCA teachers and administrators have shown in him.

“Because not everyone has what I have, and I’m very fortunate that I get to go here and get the support from them,” Joshua said.

Celene Flerine, Joshua’s mother, wanted her son to attend TBCA for the benefits that come with attending a private school with a student population of 200: small class sizes, more one-on-one attention from the teachers, and the support offered by the administration.

“I felt the people at this school, the principal and teachers, are happy to help you with your children,” she said. “If there is any problem, if your child doesn’t do homework, they call you and say this is not working, this is not good.

“That’s what I want, because I don’t want for them to wait for six months or one year to find out my child isn’t doing good at your school. Then it’s too late. At this school, they make sure they work together (with parents). You go talk to them. They open the door for you. This is a good school for me.”

Celene knew what Joshua was capable of achieving and reminded him of that every time he brought home a disappointing report card.

“When I was a younger, I was like, ‘Why do they expect so much of me? I’m just a regular kid. I don’t want to do all this stuff,’” Joshua said. “And now that I’m here, I feel like I should have listened from the beginning, because if I had listened from the beginning, I could be way smarter, have more opportunities.”

Joshua kicked off his senior year by earning student of the month honors for August. He is working hard during his final year at TBCA to bring his GPA from a 2.8 to a 3.0, which he hopes will make him eligible for financial assistance to college.

He was proud of what he accomplished in class once he began to apply himself and he was proud that he made his mother, well, proud.

“My mom is really happy for me,” he said. “She just wants the best for me. And now all her efforts weren’t in vain. I’m actually trying, and she sees that I’m trying and she’s proud of me, which makes me proud of myself.”

Joshua, who wants to be an electrical engineer, said he wants to be a person who makes a difference in his community. That’s why he’s interested in starting his nonprofit.

The idea came to life during a class discussion with Peavyhouse, who posed this question: What makes high school freshmen so annoying? Peavyhouse was looking for serious answers, and Joshua provided one: “They don’t know what they don’t know.”

Joshua’s solution was to offer a mentorship program to those who lack male role models. Those young men get lost, Joshua said, because they have no one to show them the importance of an education, that a 3.0 GPA is better than a 2.0 and a 3.5 is better than a 3.0. It’s hard to believe in yourself, Joshua said, when no one believes in you.

Speaking from his own experiences, Joshua said, “I just saw a lot of people with potential that they never really could do anything about it because of their situation. They need help.

“They can be the smartest person in the world living in poverty and not having the means or the support to actually be someone in life, and they could be. But instead, it gets thrown out the window. It’s just a waste of potential.”

Being named junior class president ignited the serious student that for so long, lay dormant inside Joshua.

“They make me feel like I’m worth something,” he said, “that I can actually do something with my life. Junior year I said, ‘Enough is enough, because I want to have a future.’”

Roger Mooney, manager, communications, can be reached at [email protected].