Ziyah Petithomme, an eighth grader at Fairview Middle School, calls herself a dreamer.
“I have a lot of the qualities of a dreamer. I think I’m very patient, very kind and always quick to help others,” Ziyah said. “Dr. King’s words have had a really big impact.”
The 12-year-old said she keeps busy outside of school with community service, tutoring others, competing on the Black History Brain Bowl team, and assisting her teachers.
She says it’s because of her dreamer traits that her teachers and principal nominated her to represent the school as a recipient of the Kathleen L. Rodgers Dreamers and Doers award.
Over 100 students in the Leon County School District, were awarded and recognized by their teachers, school administrators and the Tallahassee Branch NAACP for embodying the ideals and dream of Martin Luther King Jr. Jan. 16 at the Tucker Civic Center.
The students were treated with a savory and sweet breakfast buffet with eggs, waffles, bacon and more at the annual MLK commemorative breakfast program.
Hundreds showed up to celebrate the exemplary students. Parents, relatives, students, school administrators, and local leaders attended the event hosted in collaboration by Leon County Schools and District and the Tallahassee Branch NAACP.
Each school in the district names two students as “Dreamers and Doers.” This year Florida A&M University Developmental Research School, Florida State University Schools and local charter schools included students in the program.
Ziyah’s mother, Shay Lewis, said her daughter is her youngest and this is her second time attending the breakfast since her oldest child was also awarded years before.
“I feel like this is well deserved. Ziyah is a great speaker, she’s involved and persistent,” Lewis said with beaming pride. “Ziyah has perseverance and intelligence and wit. This is a great honor.”
Lewis expressed joy that her daughter’s achievements and ambitious attributes have not been overlooked.
She added: “Her teachers, they see her.”
Keynote speaker Benny Bolden, LCS director of secondary schools, said the same of the students in the room.
“I need you to understand from my soul, you are not here by accident,” Bolden told the Dreamers and Doers in the room. “You are here because this generation needs your courage, your intellect, your creativity and your refusal to settle.”
Before advancing to his current position at the district’s administrative office, Bolden was principal of Nims Middle School and has been recognized for leading the school to its first B-grade in its 66-year history.
His turnaround leadership earned him the 2025 Florida TaxWatch Middle School Principal of the Year award.
Bolden also carries prominence in music education starting his career as a band director at schools in south Florida. He received the 2025 Florida Music Education Association Leadership Award for music education and made history as the first Black president of the Florida School Music Association.
The Dreamers and Doers Award is dedicated to two LCS history makers: Malinda Jackson James and Kathleen L. Rodgers.
Jackson is a retired longtime LCS educator who advanced to administrative roles, claiming the status as the first in most categories, including six years of service as the district’s first Black executive director of employee relations, recruitment and equity.
Serving 40 years in education, Rodgers was a teacher, assistant principal, turnaround principal and assistant superintendent for the Office of Prevention, Intervention, and Equity and Support Services.
Ziyah plans to one day make history like Rodgers, Jackson and King.
“One of the biggest impacts that Dr. King left was his words. I think his words are very powerful and I feel inspired to be able to say things that are really important to me and are just as powerful,” she said. “Even after he passed his legacy still continues.”
Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter/X: @AlaijahBrown3.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Over 100 Leon County students honored for embodying MLK’s dream
Reporting by Alaijah Brown, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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