On Jan. 25, when 16-year-old Jayden Ferrell was presented with a GEMS (Great Education Moments for Students) award by the Monroe County School District at its board meeting, many of his family members attended to watch. As Superintendent Theresa Axford handed over the award, his family stood and, smiling broadly, took photos with their phones as his mother, Sophia Baker, jumped into the group who were posing around Jayden.
While introducing 11th-grade Coral Shores High School student Jayden, Amber Archer Acevedo, the coordinator of community relations for the district, said, “Jayden is the true demonstration of perseverance and grit. Jayden was born blind, and he uses braille and braille technology with his advanced placement and academic classes, as well as in his personal life. Jayden has faced many challenges, physically, emotionally and personally. But he never lets that stop him. … He has goals, and we have no doubt he has what it takes to get there.”
Jayden was kind enough to answer some questions from the Keys Weekly:
Jayden, how do you do homework in braille? When I hand in homework, it’s written in braille, then it’s printed out in print. A special computer does that. I have it with me. I bring it to school and take it home.
What extra school activities are you involved in? Drama Club and Mock Trial. Mock Trial is for people who want to go into law. We go over cases and go to competitions. I like it, it’s fun.
What do you want to be when you grow up? I like arguing, and I like being right. And I like being paid for it, so I’d like to be a lawyer for my career.
Who do you credit for helping you succeed in school? I guess my parents. My mom was always really supportive and encouraging and made sure education was important. My dad helped me get through middle school. I probably would have failed middle school if not for my parents. They were hard years. Teenage life is hard. Those years, I really didn’t know who I was yet. I did a lot of dumb things. I wasn’t motivated to do any work. My father started teaching me braille early, when I was 2.
What would you say to other children of color who are having problems and aren’t motivated in school? That’s a hard question. I guess, figure out who you are early in life so you won’t have to deal with it in the future. It was a mental journey I went through. A lot of my family would tell me things, family advice. After they were done, I’d store it away and see how I felt about it. If I liked it, I kept it. If I didn’t, I’d turn it around to something I like.
How can white people support people of color? I don’t know how to answer that. Maybe less stereotypes.
What superpower would you most like to have, and why? Teleportation. Because why not? It would make life a lot easier. Either that, or clone myself so one of me could go to school while the other one could sleep.
If you could make a rule for the whole world to follow, what would it be? Make the weekends longer. School should be three days, and weekends should be four days. The economy would rise. Thursday to Sunday, everyone would get involved in stuff. The plan can’t go wrong.
What makes you laugh? Not much. I like sitcoms and stuff. They make me laugh. The last one I saw was “My Wife and Kids.” I guess I just know how to make other people laugh.
Finish this sentence: The hardest part about being a kid is… Living up to parents’ expectations. But when you get to a certain age, you question if you want to live to their expectations or go higher than that. When I was 10, 11, 12, I realized I wanted to be better than this. I don’t want to stay in the Keys the rest of my life. I want to live my life to the fullest and have opportunities they never had.
Jayden, what else would you like to tell the readers of this newspaper? Sleep more.
