Shianiyah Johnson, an Annapolis Garden resident, will pack her bags this summer to head to the summer school program at Gordonstoun International in Scotland for three weeks in July 2024.
“I’ve been to Tennessee,” the Annapolitan said, recalling the only other place outside of the area where she has been.
The 14-year-old ninth grader who attends South River High School was awarded the impactful opportunity through the Annapolis & Anne Arundel Scholarship Trust (AAACST) nonprofit. Shianiyah’s all-expense paid scholarship will afford her an opportunity to meet other children from all over the world.
“I want to learn about diversity and how other people’s lives are,” Shianiyah said.
Horseback riding is just one new activity that she looks forward to trying beyond traditional classroom boundaries. Although Shianiyah remarked that she is “pretty excited” about the opportunity, she did not first believe that she had been selected.
“My mom texted me and told me [that] Mr. Broddie [AAACST’s executive director] wanted to talk to me. And then I called him and that’s when he told me that I was going to Scotland,” she said.
AAACST recently opened a center in Annapolis Gardens, a low-income community in Annapolis. The undertaking was supported by a City of Annapolis grant. Reginald Broddie stated that it launched March 11, 2023.
“I’ve been going there for a while since it first opened up a few years back. When Mr. Broddie started working there, it seemed like a lot more kids started going,” Shianiyah said. “There’s a lot of activities. You go there to finish schoolwork in a peaceful place, play games, hang out with others.”
A teen room is now up and running. Broddie said that a 21st-century approach is used while working with the teenagers.
“It’s no longer this very structured one-hour program of technology or teen pregnancy prevention or GED prep. We’re using a peer mentoring model with counseling groups in the teen center. Most of us would be surprised that our teens have a lot on their minds and while we spend more time ignoring or misunderstanding what their issues are, they have many more questions. That teen center has been able to address and answer many, many questions that these teens have in their community. It’s a counseling center without calling it that,” Broddie said.
He and the director, Paul Johnson, usually facilitate the conversations.
Broddie specifically mentioned that since it was launched, AAACST brought a sense of belonging to young people in Annapolis Gardens and the trust of the parents.
Under Broddie’s watch, parents now feel comfortable sending their children to the center. Broddie said that it was not always that way.
He added that “it was much of a hodgepodge type of environment.”
“But we’ve cleaned that up. Every child deserves to come here and be treated with dignity and respect. And that’s the greatest impact that we’ve had— focusing on the treatment of each other,” Broddie said.
Currently, Shianiyah is staying busy with playing on a basketball team and school. She was a junior counselor at the AAACST summer camp. Broddie noted why he thought that Shianiyah Johnson was the best candidate for this trip.
“Well, I think a lot of it has to do with her temperament and understanding the type of young people that she will be fellowshipping with. I thought her personality and her temperament were a great fit, but I think what brought it home for us was her application and her essay as to why she thought it was important to go to Scotland,” Broddie said.
In a press release, Broddie also stated that through this program, participants confront challenges that transcend socio-economic and cultural boundaries, fostering newfound confidence and independence.
“Ultimately, over 85% of Gordonstoun attendees successfully graduate from college,” Broddie said.
Shianiyah wants to become a surgeon. She has been a part of Anne Arundel County’s STEM program since middle school. Her mother, Tershia Lemon, is a big inspiration to her.
After reflecting on her experiences at AAACST’s center in Annapolis Gardens, Shianiyah stated that she would tell other teens who have not visited to “go there, learn about stuff and never stop chasing their dreams.”
When asked what she would say to Broddie and anyone who played a role in selecting her to visit Scotland, Shianiyah summed up her sentiments simply.
“Thank you for everything,” she said.
Visit www.AnnapolisTrust.org to obtain more information about AAACST.
Broddie is a good man he came to Bywaters boy’s and girl’s club his engery and his actions showing love and compassion caring our whole community of Bywaters appreciates and stood in solidarity is still appreciated by all of us who he has touched and some of us was already adults we made sure we stood with him today his a great friend of mine I Salute you Broddie