'Everybody matters': Respect Yourself Boys Academy blends affirmations, prayer, history

Bethel Christian Academy, established 32 years ago as a private school in Tallahassee, has reopened this fall with a new focus and new headmaster.

After a year-long hiatus from day-to-day school operations, Bethel Christian Academy has rechristened itself as the all-male Respect Yourself Boys Academy.

It is the latest in educational ventures under the Bethel Empowerment Foundation, an affiliate of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in downtown Tallahassee.

The Rev. R.B. Homes Jr., senior pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church and chancellor for the school, says the transition to an all-boys academy this fall was inspired by the notable transformation of boys who participated in the academy's afterschool and summer camp programs this year.

"Because the afterschool and summer programs were so successful, we saw real changes in the boys' academic behavior and their moral development," Holmes told the Tallahassee Democrat. "They had the ability to get along with each other without fighting and pushing."

The summer camp had over 75 boys registered ranging in age from 5 to 12-years-old.

Headmaster Corey Pendleton said the school has 36 students, many of whom came from public Title I schools and have a record of behavior issues. However, he said at the academy, the parents have been overwhelmed with good reports.

"The kids come here, and they just love school, and they want to be here," said Pendleton who previously taught at Westwood Heights Elementary in Fort Lauderdale. "We pray throughout the day, and it sets more of a positive tone. Prayer changes things truly."

Pendleton, who has been a teacher for 20 years, graduated from Flagler College with a bachelor's degree in elementary education, and from Sheppard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University, with a degree in education law.

A history of educational outreach

This is not the Bethel Empowerment's first attempt at an all-male school.

Its first foray into education was with the C.K. Steele-Collins Charter School, named after the late civil rights activist and Bethel pastor, the Rev. C.K. Steele, and late Florida Gov. Leroy Collins.

In 2011, under contract with Leon County School District, the Bethel Empowerment Foundation opened the C.K. Steele-Collins Charter School as an all-boys academy for middle school students. According to Holmes, the school was closed in 2015 to focus on strengthening Bethel Christian Academy, which opened in 1992 serving grades prekindergarten through five.

While Bethel Christian Academy only offered afterschool programs last year, the boys were taught empowering messages and learned a unique alphabet of affirmations to follow and recite each day.

The school is located in the Bethel Family Life Center at 406 N. Bronough St., and the set capacity of students for this fall is 40 with a staff of four teachers.

They recite the affirmations every morning, including "I am somebody," before academic instruction and during the afterschool program. They also wear a uniform of a white-collared dress shirt with black tie and slacks.

"We want them to know that everybody matters, and that image is very powerful," Holmes said. "Psychologically, when you realize you're somebody, you release that sense of violence."

While not affiliated with the school, Holmes and others launched the Respect Yourself Crime Prevention Task Force in late 2022 as the city struggles to get a grip on gun violence, with young men often the victims and perpetrators.

Biblical principles and Black history in classrooms

Chandra Sapp, a mother of a fifth grader and sixth grader at the academy, said she made the decision to pull her sons out of a private school in Havana and place them at the Respect Yourself Boys Academy because of the growth she saw in them during the summer camp.

"Just seeing how much they learned during the summer, and how much they loved it and got to know the staff. I just felt so strongly about what they were doing there and the potential, so I transferred them to go to Bethel for the [fall] school year," Sapp told the Tallahassee Democrat.

"It's just amazing to see little boys, especially young Black boys in this generation, just speak positive things over themselves, because sometimes everyone's not going to speak those things over you," Sapp said.

Sapp said she was able to send her boys to the school on the Step Up for Students scholarship. Other scholarships are still available for students enrolling at the school where tuition is $9,900 per student.

The school follows the Abeka curriculum, a program founded by Arlin and Rebekah Horton that uses biblical principles to encourage academic growth.

The Hortons started the curriculum after they opened Pensacola Christian Academy where they worked as teachers and wanted to see biblical principles incorporated into classroom academics.

Students use the curriculum in Christian schools accredited by the company; however, Bethel Christian Academy is not accredited.

According to Pendleton, because the academy is a private school, it does not rely on accreditation at all, only the curriculum.

"The curriculum is really helpful with these young boys especially because it starts a baseline for everything," Pre-Kindergarten teacher Josette Sutton told the Tallahassee Democrat. "And the affirmations are good too, even though they don't comprehend them all the way yet, they are excited to be involved and cite them in the mornings."

The classroom walls are lined with a copy of the pledge to the Bible and the Christian flag and informative graphics about Black history, something that Holmes has been passionate about as an activist for Black history being taught accurately in public schools.

"In the time we're living in, in regard to Black history, we want to integrate Black history into the curriculum," Holmes said.

Aside from daily devotionals and academics, the school offers students a plethora of extracurricular activities, including a partnership with i9 Sports, the nation's largest multi-sport provider focused on community-based programs and student organizations.

Eight students, their parents, Holmes and Pendleton traveled last month to Washington, D.C., for the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where they heard the Rev. Al Sharpton and the children of Martin Luther King Jr., speak.

The boys visited landmark monuments while on the two-day trip that Holmes called "a powerful historic moment."

"It was a very enlightening experience for the boys, and I know they'll never forget it," Pendleton said.

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Alaijah Brown is with the Tallahassee Democrat and can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Bethel Christian Academy shifts focus with to Respect Yourself Boys Academy