FORT PIERCE — In a small classroom at Sunrise Education Campus, a school with just roughly 140 students tucked in the heart of Fort Pierce, Florida, most kids are focused on keeping up with lessons and their classmates. But one sixth-grader, Ta’Liyah Harris, is doing more than keeping up — she’s outranking 99 percent of her peers across the nation.
The ancient Greek word metanoia means “a change of mind” — not just in thought, but in spirit and direction. It’s the kind of change that shifts the course of someone’s life. For young Ta’Liyah, she has embodied its definition.
Only a year ago, Ta’Liyah admits, things were different. “When I was in fifth grade, I had a behavioral problem with my attitude,” she said. “But when I got to sixth grade, I wanted to become a new person.”
And she did.
Today, Ta’Liyah is thriving — not just academically but in character, confidence, and determination. Her teacher, Kenzy Pierre-Louis, recalls the moment he realized just how far Ta’Liyah had come.
“At the beginning of the school year, I noticed right away she grasped lessons instantly,” Pierre-Louis said. “She was excelling in every single subject and had so much pride in her work. I actually made her my ‘class-mom’ — she helped other students who needed a hand.”
Ta’Liyah’s effort and attitude quickly translated into achievement. She made Principal’s Honor Roll for the first time this year and recently took the NWEA MAP Growth Test, an adaptive assessment that measures student progress in subjects like math, reading, language usage, and science. The test adjusts its difficulty in real time, so questions become harder or easier depending on the student’s answers, giving a precise measure of academic growth. For sixth graders, math questions can include fractions, decimals, ratios, percentages, geometry, data analysis, and even introductory algebra concepts. She scored in 99th percentile of students her age.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Pierre-Louis said. “I clicked on her report, and there was a special grading section just for her — she surpassed the scale! I was freaking out. I went straight to Mrs. Newton, and we all celebrated her.”
Ta’Liyah’s favorite subject is math — she even tackled algebraic equations she hadn’t officially learned yet. But beyond academics, she’s also a flag football player, cheerleader, dancer, gymnast, and basketball player. Her goals are as big as her heart.
“I want to be a lawyer or a doctor,” she said. “And I just want to make my mom and great-grandma’ proud one day.”
Behind her drive is a powerful influence — her great-grandmother, who always told her, “You can be anything you want in life.”
For Pierre-Louis, fostering that belief is part of his teaching philosophy. “Her critical thinking is amazing,” he said. “I just try to nurture the skills she already has. She’s hard on herself, but that’s because she holds herself to such high standards.”
Ta’liyah’s journey isn’t just about test grades or scores — it’s about transformation. Change doesn’t always mean starting over. Sometimes it simply means thinking differently, believing for more, and moving forward with purpose.