With all the bad news we get each day, how about some great news for a change? Back in 2018, I told you about a remarkable young man by the name of JoVoni Johnson. At the time he was a 10th-grade student from a single-parent home who had received one of our personalized bookcases in 2005, the very first year we started our project. His grades were so good in 10th grade that he was already getting scholarship offers from colleges around the country. He came and spoke to us at our Awards Ceremony, and we were all impressed with him. He was also the backup quarterback for the Conway Wampus Cat football team.
Now, fast forward a couple of years and he is a senior in high school, has a grade-point average of 4.27 and an ACT of 34, and is a National Merit Scholarship award winner and the president of his 600-member Senior Class. He was also named All-State in football by the Arkansas Activities Association. We later learned that he had been awarded a four-year, all-expenses-paid scholarship to play football and attend Rice University in Houston, one of the most prestigious academic universities in the nation. In fact, if you picked five of the top colleges in this class, Rice would be among them.
Now, please allow me to back up a minute and tell you why these opportunities were coming along to him. When he got his bookcase and books back in 2005, he said he and his mother had a deal. She told him the only books he could have in his bookcase were those he had read. He said, “I would read a book, put it in there, read another book and put it in there,” and on and on until his bookcase was filled. He said, “The bookcase and the books just jump-started me to want to learn,” and learn he did. And he kept reading. The results speak for themselves. He credits our bookcase project for much of his success.
Now, here is the rest of the story I wanted to tell you. He graduated from Rice this past May with a degree in Economics and a minor in Spanish. I had a good visit with him on the phone this past week and he told me that he had almost a 4.0 grade-point average and he is a starter on the Rice Owls football team. Due to Covid, he has another year of eligibility. His mother still lives here, and he talks with her often but only makes it home in person about three times each year. He has been working part time as a student and mentioned Otis Elevator as one of those places. He apparently has a bright future in the Houston area.
I really enjoyed my visit with him, and we agreed to stay in touch and to just call if either of us needed something. I look forward to having him come and speak to a future Awards Ceremony for our Conway Kiwanis Bookcase Project ceremony in April, since this date won’t conflict with his football schedule. As I close, please let me say it would be wonderful if we had thousands of young men and young ladies who got bookcases and books when they were young and turned out like JoVoni. To God be the Glory.
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(Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in the Log Cabin Democrat in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated in over 375 newspapers in 35 states. For a personalized copy of “Your Future Begins Today” send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)