Florida African American Education Alliance honors the state’s top students in math, science, engineering and technology. 

BY ANDREAS BUTLER
FLORIDA COURIER

Some of the state’s top minority students in science, technology, engineering and math were honored last month by the Florida African American Education Alliance, an organization that specializes in providing educational opportunities to minorities.

On Jan. 20, the non-profit organization recognized the advancements, accomplishments and success of minority students, teachers, administrators, community leaders and community organizations for excelling in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math during an awards dinner at the Rosen Center Hotel in Orlando.

“It is important that we do this. We as African-Americans are usually bombarded with what we cannot do. We are stigmatized with negative activity. We want to show what our children and community do that is right,” said Dr. Julia Johnson, chairwoman of the board of directors of the Florida African American Education Alliance (FAAEA).

First year for STEM
The event was part of the Alliance’s annual summit, which focused on improving minority education. More than 1,000 people from all over the state attended the awards dinner, including state leaders in politics, business and education. The award finalists and their families were provided with hotel accommodations to attend the dinner.

The FAAEA has been recognizing minority achievement in other areas for the past four years, but this was the first awards program for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

Symbolically, the event was held during the observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

“We used to do it on the actual holiday observance. We changed it because so many politicians have other commitments on that day,” said Paula Hoisington, executive director of FAAEA.

Achievement gap
According to Dr. Eric Smith, Commissioner of the Florida Department of Education, African-Americans in Florida have made strides in education in recent years.

“We are closing the achievement gap between Black and White students,” Smith said.

Smith also gave statistics on where Florida ranks and how Black students were doing nationally in education.

Florida is ranked 14th in the nation in education up from 31 a year ago, according to Education Week magazine. The state also is one of five states to show signs of narrowing the achievement gap between Black and White students in fourth-grade reading and one of seven states to show it in eighth-grade math over the last four years.

“We have high averages of students taking AP (advanced placement) and honor classes,” Smith added. “We have the most AP test takers in the nation. Black students have shown a 29-percent increase in passing AP exams since 2001. More minorities are taking the SAT and ACT and minority scores are climbing. Our high school graduation rates are up as well.”

Reflection on progress
Stephanie Monroe, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights with the U.S. Department of Education, was the banquet’s keynote speaker. She spoke on the impact of Florida’s No Child Left Behind Law.

“Students must perform at grade level. Before the law, we had students being passed because of age and not performance,” she said. “We had teachers that could not teach the subjects. To stay competitive, the U.S. must invigorate STEM programs.”

Monroe reflected on the progress made in recent years. “We have done more in the past five years than the previous 28 years. Florida’s African-American and White education gap is at its lowest point since 1992,” she added.

HBCUs missing
Although invited, there were no nominees or representation from any historical Black colleges and universities at the FAAEA event.

Florida has four HBCUs—Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Bethune-Cookman University, Edward Waters College and Florida Memorial University.

“We contacted them, but they have not jumped on board. This could have been a good recruiting opportunity for them. We have 300 of the best students in the state here. These are not the problem kids,” Hoisington said.

Finding minorities to fulfill positions in high-paying career fields like the space agency is another goal of the FAAEA.

New frontier
“We are proud of our partnership with the FAAEA. We will continue to provide opportunities for minorities. We will have an impact on teaching, grooming and preparing students for the future,” added Steve Kohler, president of Space Florida, an agency that focuses on recruiting and retaining business for the aerospace industry.

“We are in a critical need in Florida. The space shuttle is about to be retired. We need to get a new space vehicle. The children in this room will be the ones to build it. We will support efforts to get the people to fulfill key positions so that we can remain a leader in space,” Kohler added.

Johnson added: “The space program has extra money. It will be going from government to private. It has high-paying jobs. We are trying to provide the industry Blacks as potential employees. The industry says that they cannot find minorities to go into these fields. We are trying to provide a pipeline.”

The winners
One of FAAEA’s top students was Michael Onagoruwa of the Poinciana Math, Science, and Technology Magnet School in Boynton Beach. The boy was named Elementary Student of The Year.

“It feels great to win,” Onagoruwa told the Florida Courier “I thank those who nominated me. I thank my family for their support. I know that I should never stop studying and to continue to work hard.”

Zayd Pollins of Marion County Silver River Marine Institute of Ocala was another Student of the Year winner. High School Students of the Year were senior Christopher Brown of Pine Ridge High School in Deltona and Carissa White of Middleton High in Tampa.

Brown spoke about the challenges to being successful as a student. “It is very extremely difficult,” he said. “I do a lot of extracurricular activities and I have a social life. My mother helps me out a lot. I try to focus on academics first.”

Community awards
Daryl Bagley of Burns Middle School in Brandon was named Middle School Student of the Year and Carl Runyon of Seminole Community College Community College is Community College Student of the Year.

Community College Teacher of the Year was awarded to Dr. Sybil Brown, a math teacher at Lake-Sumter Community College while Heather Edwards of Seminole Community College took Community College Administrator of the Year.

Community Leader of the Year went to Honor Bell for the Mentor Disability Mentoring Day in Tallahassee. Academy of Scientific Inquiry, a community organization out of Mainland High in Daytona Beach, won Community Organization of the Year.

Linda Harrison, principal of Skyway Elementary in Miami, and Vickie Presley, principal at Campbell Middle School in Daytona Beach, were named Administrators of the Year.

Teacher of the Year awards went to a high school teaching duo of Katya Barrett and Ruth Robert at Hubert O Sibley Elementary in Miami and Adrienne Bledsoe of Poinciana High in Boynton Beach.

For more information on the FAAEA, contact Stacey Meaders at 850-671-4004 or log onto www.aaedalliance.org.