An artist, a cheerleader and King Brenis. Meet five resilient stars of the Class of ’21

The Class of 2021 hoped they wouldn’t suffer the same fate as the class before them.

They didn’t. They had it worse.

Their school year was not upended during spring break by a deadly pandemic, which is what the Class of 2020 endured. Instead, this year’s graduating class spent their senior year learning under pandemic restrictions.

Learning and socializing went entirely online for long stretches. And even when that eased, it was still all masks, all the time.

There was still no prom. Rules and protocols put a damper on activities. But, at the end, they did get the chance to walk across the stage at graduation. For some, that’s all they ever wanted.

Making it through this year has proven that the seniors of 2021 can do anything. They want to be ... a therapist for migrant workers. A trauma surgeon. A visual artist. A U.S. president and a secretary of state.

Meet five fascinating, hardworking and resilient graduates in Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ Class of 2021.

Brenis Bostick, 18, he/his, Miami Norland Senior High

As a sophomore, Brenis Bostick couldn’t shake the nerves before his first performance as a slam poet. His teacher, Precious Symonette, was by his side. He nailed the performance, and she bestowed him with the nickname “King Brenis.”

Since that moment, King Brenis has never lost a competition.

He’s won Actors’ Playhouse at The Miracle Theatre’s Young Talent Big Dreams competition, DRANOFF 2 PIANO’s Piano Slam competition and several writing competitions.

“In a sense, it became therapeutic for me,” said Bostick, 18, who said he dealt with depression and anxiety his freshman year. “We don’t expect younger generations to experience stress. Sometimes our lives are harder than other people around the world. It became an escape from pain, helped me to heal. Writing became my meditation, relieving myself of pain.”

Bostick had the good fortune of having Symonette, the 2017 Teacher of the Year for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, as his teacher and mentor for all four years at Miami Norland Senior High.

Symonette was drawn to slam poetry when she was in high school. She brought that passion to Charles Drew Middle and then to Miami Norland, where she met Bostick.

What sets him apart?

“His authenticity. He’s very very authentic. And he’s very relatable,” Symonette said. “I think Brenis, he’s a great storyteller. And I think he’s able to tap into that, and he is able to capture his audience every single time.”

Bostick has gone above and beyond as a student. Even though he wasn’t in her class as he was busy taking college-level courses, Bostick logged into Symonette’s virtual class and completed assignments as if he were her student.

“You ask him for a paragraph, he’s going to come back with three or four paragraphs,” she said. “Brenis has been going through a lot of difficult things and he has never used that as an excuse. He never uses that as an excuse. He uses it as motivation.”

Bostick performed a slam poem at his graduation. There have only been five poets to ever perform at graduation.

He’s off to study political science at the University of Miami and maybe become a lawyer. He says that could set him up for 2040, when he wants to run for U.S. president.

Elena Contreras, 18, she/her, Homestead Senior High

Elena Contreras’ happy place is at school, lost in a good fantasy or mystery novel.

That is, for the months she’s at Homestead Senior High.

When she’s not at Homestead High, she’s at school in North Carolina for the first two months of every school year.

Contreras and her family are migrant farmworkers. Her father picks cherry and grape tomatoes and she packs them. Her family has moved over and over again for work, including seasonally, which interferes with the first two months of every school year.

Because Contreras goes to school in different states, she cannot take electives like cooking or theater. She must use that time to meet her requirements for graduation.

“I believe it’s a difficult life that we live,” said Contreras, 18. “And that takes a big toll on us. You come home and you believe that you’re coming to people who are OK. You’re going to relax. Home is where you relax, but to me that wasn’t the case. To me home was about constant stress and troubles because I have to deal with people who went through a lot of things.”

That’s why Contreras wants to be a therapist for families like hers. Inspired by a psychology course she took as a junior, she wants to provide therapy to low-income families and farmworkers. That class helped her understand her parents’ trauma.

“I started realizing they weren’t messed up people, they just went through things and didn’t have the help they needed,” she said.

Contreras has been working since she was barely a teen to help her family financially. In the summer, she works every day except Sunday.

“They didn’t have to buy me certain things. I was taking care of myself now but it was exhausting,” she said. “I didn’t like it. It’s really hot in there. Gotta stand on your feet. Can’t stop, no breaks.”

Born in Mexico, she recently applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA. She’ll be enrolling at Miami Dade College and after two years, she’ll probably go to Florida International University, though her dream is to attend Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Aya Hamza, 18, she/her, Coral Gables Senior High

Growing up Iraqi American, Aya Hamza was told to never speak about politics outside the house.

She would pitch in behind the register at her father’s convenience store in Coconut Grove. But in high school, Hamza was concerned with finding her passion. A teacher at Coral Reef Senior High connected her to Matt Haggman’s congressional campaign.

That led to her campaigning for the whole Florida Democratic ticket in the 2018 midterm elections. Hamza got the chance to lobby former congresswoman Donna Shalala to create a youth advisory council.

Hamza found her voice in politics and community service. Soon enough, she was named president of Miami-Dade Teen Democrats. It netted her a ticket to the Democratic primary debate here in Miami as a guest of former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Hamza’s hard work is paying off. She’s been awarded a first-generation college student scholarship, a Burger King scholarship and scholarships from the Coral Gables Community Foundation, the Key Biscayne Community Foundation and the Coral Gables Bar Association Ervin A. Gonzalez Scholarship Fund.

When she can, Hamza handles the email, marketing, communications and legal matters for her father’s store, Grand 7th.

She’s off to the University of Chicago to double major in political science and a major called law, letters and society. She also wants to double minor in human rights and architectural studies.

After all that, she wants to attend law school and pursue a juris doctorate and a master’s in business administration. She’d like to do political work here in Miami or work in foreign affairs or human rights law.

But her dream job?

“Secretary of State or chairing the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,” she says.

Is Perlman, 17, they/their, Design and Architecture Senior High

For some, the coronavirus quarantine provided a time to reflect.

It came at the right time for Design and Architecture Senior High alum Is Perlman, who was transitioning. Their classmates were shocked to hear their deeper voice on the first day of school.

“Transitioning saved my life,” said Perlman, 17.

Perlman is a visual artist, and through the pandemic, they finally had time to focus on themselves. Their art has since been a celebration, and they have a lot to celebrate.

“I’m a trans Jewish Asian-American person,” said Perlman. “So I’m really passionate about portraying trans bodies and trans people as holy and sacred.”

“Transness is focused on trans suffering and trans pain,” they continued. “Trans youth and queer youth need to know they can have a future of joy, of love, of happiness. And survive.”

This year, Perlman was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, one of 20 around the nation.

Perlman found community in Keshet, an LGBTQ equality and Jewish life group, and JYCA (Jewish Youth for Community Action) and JAM, Jews Against Marginalization. Monday night Zoom calls kept them grounded.

Of course, other parts of quarantine have been rough. Unsurprisingly, Perlman is hands on and didn’t enjoy learning online. Quarantining, they said, was way too jarring and disruptive.

Perlman is thrilled to attend Columbia University in New York City in the fall to major in visual arts and minor in art history with women’s and gender studies. They want to keep making art and promoting the art of colleagues, especially Black trans artists and those who need representation.

“I feel like there’s a lot I want to communicate and speak about,” they said. “I use art a lot as a way to heal and portray my own narratives in a world that historically has not portrayed narratives like mine.”

Aaliyah Ward, 18, she/her, Miami Northwestern Senior High

Aaliyah Ward does it all.

She started cheerleading at age 4 with the Liberty City Optimists at Charles Hadley Park. She got involved with chorus and drama her freshman year at Miami Northwestern Senior High. She added softball as a sophomore, and by junior year she was involved with the Social Studies National Honors Society.

All that while maintaining a job at Publix since age 14. Instilled with a sense of independence, she wanted to make her own money. Ward now wears many hats at a vegan restaurant.

“I really put the extra in it,” said Ward, 18. “I’ve always been a person to not just do one thing.”

The pandemic was a change of pace for Ward, who was looking forward to all the senior-year milestones. But she chose to stay home for online learning and only go to school for her extracurricular activities.

Her hard work has paid off: She’s graduating in the top 15% of her class. She’s glad she got to walk across the stage during an in-person graduation ceremony.

She’s bound for Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach to study biology. “Grey’s Anatomy” inspired her to want to become a trauma surgeon.

But Ward isn’t sure she can wait through years of schooling. She’s ready to go into the workforce.

“I was always that person who was like so ready for the workforce,” she said. “If it takes me a while, I’ll do something else.”

This post has been corrected to reflect the correct names of Jewish organizations Is Perlman works with.

This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 10:15 AM.