Celebrating Grandchildren

Celebrating Grandchildren

By James Hill

      I retired from the city of Fort Lauderdale in 2000 to finish writing and publishing my book, Emancipation of Eight Generations: The Chambers Family Treasure.

My sole purpose for writing the book was to focus upon the family as an institution and for the important role family plays in the shaping of one’s life.

Learning and developing the history of that institution enables one to better analyze the past and to predict the future. Since publishing the book in 2004, many memorable events have occurred in my life.

Last year, for example, the family celebrated my 80th birthday as well as celebrated my wife Eva’s and my 50th anniversary. We are now the proud grandparents of four adorable grandchildren: Kayla (22), Bianca (16), Faith (14), and Randall (six) (the first and only grandson). Since these four grandchildren have be-come the central focus of our daily lives, I have been inspired to celebrate them and to keep a journal of their activities.

Each of the three girls has excelled in her physical, social, and educational development. While Kaylahas excelled in golf and is one of the top five golfers in Broward County, and Randall is flexing his muscles as the youngest, I would like to tell you about Bianca Rose Taylor and Faith Angellica Hill. I consider them to be two of kind who have distinguished themselves as highly motivated and dedicated students of their respective schools. They have compiled remarkable records in academics, the arts, athletics, leadership, and community service.

Bianca Rose Taylor is the daughter of Moses and Eva Taylor. The family resides in Coral Springs. Currently a ninth grader at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Bianca has been on a mission since first grade to become the best all-around student she can be.

Grades first through fourth were very busy years for Bianca. She had learned how to take her classes and her homework seriously and just how important it was to be present and on time for school each day. Bianca would become very upset and would often cry if she were tardy or absent for any reason. Respecting herself, her teachers, and fellow school-mates was of the utmost importance. Bianca believed that the fourth grade was the mark for her because by that time, she had made so many friends and had begun to discover what fun it was to participate in musical and other performing arts groups.

She discovered the dinning voice she has, which seemed to improve and get stronger each year.

Mr. Sheppard, her music teacher at Our Savior Lutheran School, took notice of her voice and created a special arrangement of the Psalm “America the Beautiful” for her to perform at the annual school talent show. Bianca drew a standing ovation from the audience. It was at this stage of her development that she no longer feared speaking or singing before an audience.

Two major events occurred when Bianca entered the fifth grade. First, her family moved from Plantation to accommodate her sister Kayla’s growing interest in the game of golf. Second, Bianca was transferred to the NSU University School at Nova Southeastern University to start fifth grade. At this juncture of her education, she had begun to take note of Kayla’s developing talent in golf. Kayla had won the Broward County Jr. Golf Championship in 2008. It had a positive effect on Bianca’s life.

Matured by both of those occurrences, Bianca began to search deeper and broader to determine where her talent might lie and what she had to do in order to reach the top of her talent. Realizing at that point what I had taught her, “Different strokes for different folks,” Bianca spent Grades 5 through 8 engaging her in every activity possible to become the best she could be in life.

As an eighth grader at NSU University School, Bianca took a little time out of her busy schedule oh~ day to ask herself the following questions: “What have I done so far toward accomplishing my goal toward achieving my mission” and “What do I need to be doing now and in the future to continue my quest to be successful in school?” The answers to her questions could only be found in review of the activities in which she had participated over the past several years.

NSU University School presented Bianca with a number of new challenges. However, at the same time, the school provided her with more opportunities to improve upon the things she had learned to do previously. She joined the Drama Club and the Debate Team in addition to taking lessons in voice and music. Bianca has always had a passion for music and theater. She performed in two stage plays, Beauty and the Beast and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as well as others. Her interests in music include genres such as R&B and Hip-Hop.

Additionally, Bianca played soccer and volleyball at NSU University School. For the last six years, Bianca has dedicated herself to the sport of volleyball. She has played both indoor and beach volleyball for two consecutive years. Bianca was granted the opportunity to play on the St. Thomas Aquinas High School Junior Varsity Volleyball Team as an incoming freshman. She made the South Florida Volleyball All-Star Team and went on to the International World Volleyball Tournament in Orlando in summer 2016. As for her upcoming sophomore year, she plans to try out for the volleyball team again.

As a student athlete, Bianca has excelled in all of her Honors Courses. She has been given multiple opportunities to explore career choices, including going to spend a week and a half at the prestigious John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, to be a part of the university’s Advanced Pre-Med Program.

Bianca is intensely involved in her community. Along with attending monthly beach cleanups, she helps with the infants in the local Church by the Sea. She is involved in organization drives and fundraisers that support diabetes and child obesity.

Bianca is currently involved in three not-for-profit organizations, including the McCormick Foundation and Habitat for Humanity. On May 6 of this year, she celebrated her Sweet 16 with her family and 53 of her closest friends in attendance.

According to Bianca, her family group has always been the most important part of her life. Because she and her cousin Faith are very close in age, they enjoy seeing each other and hanging out whenever they get the chance. Randall likes to hang with them, too, whenever they let him.

Faith Angellica Hill is the daughter of Dr. James O. and Antionet Hill. The family resides in North Palm Beach. Faith is in the eighth grade at The Pine School, located in Hobe Sound, Florida. Faith grew up in a military family. Her dad was a U.S. Army Major who served in the Green Zone in Baghdad during the Iraqi War. Quite often students who grow up in military families face many challenges as their parents must relocate to different military bases from time to time. Children are forced to live in different cities and countries, attend new schools, and make new friends.

Faith has experienced all the above but, through it all, she has managed to distinguish herself as a phenomenal young lady capable of meeting the challenges with which she has been faced.

Academically, Faith has been a straight-A student since kindergarten. In 2016, she was inducted into the National Junior Honors Society. She has been selected to participate in MATHlete competitions for the past two years. She has received Head Master and Honor Roll Awards for her accomplishments.

Artistically, Faith really enjoys art. She has made videos, paintings, ceramics, and mosaics, just to name a few. In third grade, her art picture was chosen to be judged in the Sarasota, Florida Fair. In fourth grade, her art picture was chosen to be judged by the Muscle Shoals, Alabama local newspaper. In sixth grade, her art sketch was chosen to be a poster board for a school event at Liberty Baptist Church and Academy in Ft. Pierce, Florida. In seventh grade, Faith received an award for her artwork from The Pine School and participated in a chalk art festival with the art club. She participated in different art camps during the summer. Over the years, she also took tap, ballet, hip-hop and jazz classes.

Faith has had to work very hard at athletics. She is trying to learn as much as she can in a variety of sports. She has participated in sports since she was three years old. She has played T -ball, softball, and basketball. She was on a swim team one summer. Faith ran cross-country. She participated in gymnastics for two years, and she has a red belt in Taekwondo. Faith enjoys surfing at surf camp in the summer. She will be taking scuba diving lessons this summer. Athletics have made Faith feel more confident in the things she does.

Faith considers herself to be a leader but a leader who can follow as well. She has led small groups in school, and she is a Student Council representative this year. She received the Knight of Character Award (The Pine School), Principal’s Award, and Citizen’s Award (Liberty Baptist Church and Academy).

Faith volunteered to help set up a booth at the Martin County Fair for her church. She has helped to set up a female recovery residence for Bright Star Landings located in Palm Beach Gardens, owned and operated by Dr. and Mrs. Hill. Faith helped to pull weeds at the Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound. She helped Bright Star Landings move its location from Jupiter to Palm Beach Gardens.

Finally, the biggest and most exciting thing that happened to Faith this school year was that she was granted The Pine School Scholarship in the amount of $24,945 for the 2017-2018 school year. Wow!! Her Mom and Dad just love that!

As their proud granddad, I would like to congratulate Bianca and Faith, two cousins belonging to the seventh generation of a very large family for raising the bar of achievement a bit higher for the younger members of their generation such as Randall and others to follow.

Additionally, I hasten to acknowledge and express my sincere appreciation to all the parents, educational aides, security staff, teachers, and preachers for all they do each day to help develop thousands as outstanding young people like mine here in South Florida.