Brandee Jones is a Hello Kitty enthusiast, respectful, out-going, and active senior. Jones has attended Suncoast for all four years, and came from Roosevelt Middle School; she is also in the MSE program,which she started in her freshman year. Jones is a very active student in the school and community. She is the president of the active minds club, Jones is Miss Suncoast, the captain of Lincoln Douglas Debate, and has  participated in: weightlifting, lacrosse, Black Student Union, Amnesty International, Psychology Honor Society, and the Harry Potter Club.

“I chose Suncoast because it was really close to my school, but I decided to do MSE because I had already met the math requirements from middle school, plus I was a part of the pre-engineering program at my middle school, and enjoyed it so I wanted to continue engineering.” Jones’s decision was heavily influenced by the education she received at Roosevelt. Being in the pre-engineering program at Roosevelt exposed students to beginner engineering problems and techniques; which would prepare the students for high school engineering programs. To prepare for MSE, Jones had taken all the math up to and including algebra II. 

The majority of the MSE program is made up of boys, the percentage of girl’s in MSE is very low, and the percentage of black girls in MSE is even lower. “I actually don’t know the exact number of black girls in the 2022 MSE cohort but there’s definitely not a lot. I did feel pretty isolated as an underclassmen, because at some points I was the only black girl in my classes. Most of my teachers have been very supportive and encouraged my growth.” Out of the 268 MSE students 90 are girls, and 21 are Black/multiracial according to school records. The number of girls in MSE is less than half compared to the total number of MSE students, and the number of blackmultiracial girls is even less. This fact has contributed to the isolation Jones felt, but she was able to persevere.

Throughout Jone’s time at Suncoast she has made an impact on students and teachers. “I taught Brandee all four years of high school. In pre-calc she stood out to me and she still does; she has always said exactly what she thinks. I have seen her grow a lot,  I also see her as a leader both outside and inside the classroom. In the classroom she is quietly supporting the kids who are struggling, she is not going to be the person to be loudly shouting about knowing the answers, even though she does […] I’m proud of her as a human being, I think she exhibits  pretty strong characteristics about treating others with respect,” calculus teacher Monica Russell said.

Suncoast helped prepare Jones to go forward in the field of engineering and help to make positive changes  to the environment and society.  “When I was in middle school, I interned with a civil engineer that worked with my mom. I worked with him for an entire summer, learning about AutoCAD and even helped him develop a Wawa in West Palm Beach. I was really interested in his workload, and I knew for sure that I wanted to become an engineer. The fact that he only had to work about twenty hours a week was also pretty nice for a work-life balance.” Getting experience at a young age helped Jones prepare for her future career. These experiences also influenced her choices for schools and the type of engineering Brandee would major in. 

“I plan to attend New York University next fall. I am majoring in chemical engineering, with a minor in political science,” explained Jones. “One of my long term goals is to improve the efficiency of alternative energy sources, such as solar panels or wave farms. I want to achieve environmental justice and I think sustainable innovations are key to securing and maintaining a high quality of life for current and future generations,” continued Jones.