School pride: Booker T. students surprised with $30,000 college scholarships
Deafening screams filled the auditorium at Booker T. Washington Senior High School on Tuesday as two students received a big surprise.
Seniors Patricia Smith and Yaz’Nique Jean Francois stepped up on stage, each the winner of a $30,000 college scholarship. They can use the four-year scholarships to cover 120 credit hours at any Florida university or college.
Smith and Francois knew they had been nominated, but had no idea they had won until Tuesday morning’s assembly at the Overtown high school at 1200 NW Sixth Ave.
“We often talked about what we wrote in our essays and never thought negatively about each other,” Smith, 17, said. “If someone else won, we would just be proud of each other.”
The Stanley Tate Project Stars Scholarships, handed out to Booker T. students by the Kiwanis Club of Biscayne Bay, are named for the real estate developer and the founder of the Florida Prepaid College Tuition Program.
The first Biscayne Bay Kiwanis scholarship was awarded in 2012. Since then, the Kiwanis Club has given out more than $450,000 in funding to Booker T. Washington students. Scholarship entrants must write essays about their lives and complete applications.
The scholarships are offered to Booker T. Washington students every school year and the finalists are paired with mentors on the school’s faculty.
Both students will be the first in their families to attend college. Smith will begin her studies at Miami Dade College and Francois will attend Florida International University.
“I feel like I just made all Haitians and Bahamians proud today,” said Francois, 17.
Their teachers and mentors had plenty of great things to say about the teens.
“Patricia has developed the strength and perspective needed to navigate her future successfully,” said Sharlee Peabody, Booker T. Washington English teacher and Smith’s mentor.
Rick Freedman, a Miami Beach native and a Kiwanis member since 1995, said the scholarship applicants’ stories resonated with him because of how well the students handled challenges in their lives, and persevered.
“Our candidates are the best of the best and overcome adversity,” he said.
When Freedman announced the winners of the scholarship, all six finalists held hands in anticipation. Their friendship extends beyond the classroom.
Before Tuesday’s assembly, the scholarship finalists made a TikTok video and they each mentioned who they thought would win. Francois picked Smith to win a scholarship, but didn’t expect to win herself.
“We all thought Patricia was going to get it,” Francois said.
Kiwanis Club members were so impressed with Francois that she is the first student to be awarded a two-year dormitory plan in addition to her scholarship, Freedman said.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 3:29 PM.
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