Passionate Poet
RHS Senior Joshua Sutton Speaks Up
By Amy Morgan
Ronald Reagan High School senior Joshua Sutton has much to say. He joined the school’s Student Voice Now Club his freshman year to have the opportunity to share his opinions about NEISD policies and proposals at conferences with district officials. This year, he’s part of an elite group of tenured members from each high school selected to attend monthly luncheons with Superintendent Dr. Sean Maika in person.
Joshua has spoken up in the past about expanding the Dollars and Cents class to teach students how to manage money and pay taxes. Two years ago, Reagan established a higher-level incubator pitching class similar to Shark Tank. Students now can visit local businesses and meet leaders as part of their coursework. Another success was allowing students to bring their own Wi-Fi devices to school to reduce cellular data load and demand on district Wi-Fi. Joshua also would like to curb the use of student vaping and nicotine by increasing penalties for possession of contraband items. Student Voice Now members have encouraged the district to add a Real Estate Principles class and hope to expand its curriculum to include licensure prep, which would allowing a student to graduate high school ready to take their real estate test and start work.
Realty interests Joshua, as he’s been inspired
by several family members who are realtors or
manage investment properties. He plans to major in business and finance and hopes to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, which is ranked in the top three HBCUs in America. The all-male school appeals to Joshua because of its emphasis on values and character building.
“Some of the most successful black men have attended there (like Spike Lee, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Samuel L. Jackson). They call it a brotherhood,” he said. He was accepted into Morehouse’s pre-college program last summer and completed courses in sociology, kinesiology, and sports analytics. Joshua will be the second generation to attend an HBCU, as his parents graduated from Xavier, and his older sister is
at Howard.
Joshua enjoys public speaking and having his voice heard. “Free speech is meant for a reason,” he said. “It’s important in your being successful. I like to say what I believe with a defensible argument.” His motto is to live life focusing on the positive. When football injuries earlier in high school sidelined his hopes of continuing in sports, Joshua became the baseball team’s student manager instead. One of his favorite Reagan memories is when the Rattlers beat the “ridiculously good” team from Corpus Christi ranked 21st in the nation right before the state playoffs. Reagan strung together a series of hits and won the critical game in front of a home crowd with a walk-off single. In his spare time, Joshua referees youth basketball and football games at the YMCA.
He also enjoys words and writes poetry to process his feelings. He’s written about fear, pride, anger and love, impressing his AP English teacher Ms. Charlton. Joshua was inspired by poet Shel Silverstein.
One of his poems reads:
“The sun still shines on cloudy days, the world still laughs in silly ways.
A stumble just means you took a chance, a struggle’s the start of a victory dance.
Folks may wait for you to fall, but you don’t have to mind at all.
So sing your song, enjoy the ride, with hope and joy right by your side.”
Inspirational, indeed.
