Two local high school students who would like to lead their own classrooms someday will spend the next year leading a statewide organization of future educators.

Junior Juliun Kinsey and freshman Charles Rigby, both students at the Professional Academies Magnet at Loften High School, were recently elected president and vice president of the Florida Future Educators of America Club (FFEA), an organization for middle and high school students interested in becoming teachers.

Kinsey is currently enrolled in the school’s Academy of Business Ownership under the direction of teacher Barbara Martin, and one day plans to open his own business. Last year he was one of just 30 students worldwide to be named a Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE).

So why is a student planning on a career in business so heavily involved in an organization for future educators?

“I’ve seen what Ms. Martin has done for so many students over the course of her career as an educator,” said Kinsey. “Her legacy inspires me to want to be a business educator as well.”

Rigby will soon be enrolling in the school’s Academy of Fire and Emergency Services. While he plans to become a firefighter, he also says he would eventually like to share what he’s learned with others.

“One day I’d like to teach younger kids, help them out and show them how to be firefighters,” he said.

In the meantime, the two are determined to make a difference at the statewide level. They’re particularly interested in increasing membership and promoting communication between future educators at the middle school, high school and university levels.

“Our goal is to create a chapter in every middle and high school and to strengthen the communication between secondary and post-secondary chapters,” said Rigby.

Kinsey is already working on a newsletter for the organization and a networking system that will foster more collaboration among the nearly 70 school chapters across the state.

“I believe that by establishing a network of representatives from every chapter in the state, we can get a lot more done,” he said. “Students will be a lot more involved in what’s going on in the organization.”

Marlon Jones, who is the sponsor of the school’s FFEA chapter, says he expects great things from the new state president during the next year and beyond.

“A student with Juliun’s drive is bound to succeed,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he were to own a big corporation or run for political office some day.”

Jones also says he expects Rigby will one day take on the mantle of leadership from Kinsey.

“He’s the type of person who works very hard to do a good job, and he’s got a strong character,” he said. “He is definitely someone that Juliun can pass the torch to.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for, that I will become president after Juliun leaves,” said Rigby.

Jones, Kinsey and Rigby all say that they owe a big part of their success in FFEA to the support of local businessman Edwin Dix. He funded the school’s trip to the organization’s state conference in Orlando, which is where the elections were held.

“Once he knew that we were going after state officer positions, he funded the trip for our entire chapter,” said Kinsey. “None of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for his generosity.”

Once his term of office in the state organization is up, Kinsey says he plans to run for office at the national level. Although he knows such leadership positions require a lot of time and effort, he says he’s committed to promoting education as a worthwhile and vital career choice.

“We have a great example out here at the Professional Academies Magnet,” he said. “You have all these academies based around other careers, but essentially none of them would be possible without the teachers.”