Gainesville Eastside High School senior Justice Alexander to receive coveted scholarship
Eastside High School senior Justice Alexander is an advocate for human rights and is committed to ensuring those who face challenges seek what her first name embodies.
Alexander, the 2024 Edna M. Hart Keeper of the Dream Scholarship Award recipient awarded by the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Florida Inc., will be the keynote speaker at the 39th annual King Commission Hall of Fame Banquet.
The late Hart was a longtime teacher and reading specialist in several schools in Alachua County for more than 40 years, and the scholarship given in honor by the King Commission has given out close to $500,000, said Rodney Long, founder and president of the King Commission.
The banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center Gainesville, 1714 SW 34th St. Tickets are $140 and must be purchased by Monday by calling 352-376-2442 or visiting www.martinlutherkingcommission.org.
“I want to give them a glimpse of my story and the circumstances I overcame,” she said. “I want to acknowledge the opportunities Dr. King and other civil rights leaders worked so hard to provide for us.”
The theme for this year’s celebration is “King Commission: 40 years of Legacy.”
Alexander was one of six applicants. Based off the commission’s education committee’s selection process, she was one point away from a perfect score, Long said.
“She scored very high in the categories through her GPA, her civic engagement during school and extracurricular activities and her oral board,” Long said. “Overall, she did an outstanding job with her essay, and hearing about her future goals is what sealed the deal.”
Alexander is the clarinet section leader for the Eastside High School Marching and Symphonic bands, president of the EHS HOPE Squad, co-president of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica (Spanish Honor Society), secretary of Model United Nations at EHS and vice-president of the first Black Student Union in Eastside’s history.
She is also a member of several other extracurricular clubs and organizations, both on and off campus, such as the Key Club, Eastside Theater, Pre-Collegiate, EHS National English Honor Society, National Achievers Society, Tri-M Honor Society, Alachua County Teen Court Program and the NAACP Youth Council, among others.
“While I’m young and able to give back, I find ways to give back to the community,” Alexander said.
She made history as the first student with albinism to hold the office of student body president at Eastside High School and will graduate from high school at the age of 17.
One of the side effects of albinism is having a visual disability, and one of the challenges she faces because of albinism is when print is too small and she must sit in front of the classroom to see the board, Alexander said.
Despite the challenges she must overcome, she continues to persevere, Alexander said.
“I’ve learned to advocate for myself in order to make the best experience I possibly can,” Alexander said.
Alexander is the daughter of John and Janelle Alexander, and her siblings are Jewel, Journey and John III.
She is a third generation Eastside High School student and currently serves as the student body president.
Alexander is a senior in the International Baccalaureate program and has a 4.04 weighted GPA.
She has been singing solos in church since the age of three and performs with the Eastside High School chorus, she said.
She has been using her vocal talents throughout Gainesville during events hosted by Moms Demanding Action Against Gun Violence, East Gainesville Relay for Life, the March of Dimes, Alachua County NAACP Freedom Fundbanquets and various other community events, she said.
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“I will continue to pursue music recreationally,” she said.
Alexander has volunteered at Summer Band Camps and Band Music Performance Assessments (MPAs) for her alma mater, Lincoln Middle School.
She also said she is a proud member of Monteocha New Life Christian Center Church.
The University of Florida is her first college of choice, said Alexander, who hopes to pursue a degree in international relations and plans to use that degree to function as a diplomat advocating for humanitarian aid around the world.
“I want to fight for people to have clean drinking water and high-quality education throughout the world,” she said.
Her goal is to earn a law degree and open a legal practice that focuses on civil rights and humanitarian law, Alexander said.
“My name is Justice and I’ve always felt drawn to the legal profession,” she said. “As a person of color with a disability, I’ve learned to promote advocacy. I decided to spend my life and career to give them that support so they can have equal rights and opportunity.”
A quote she holds near to her heart is from her father, John Alexander: “Knowledge is not power, but the application of knowledge is power.”
“Those things you’ve learned can be 10 times as powerful when you use them to help the people around you,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Keeper of the Dream Scholarship awarded to Gainesville EHS senior
