Johnson's TaeKwonDo & Leadership Academy is working on a new scholarship program which will be based on the notion that all children should be afforded certain opportunities, and that more of us should step up to offer our programs to children whose families may not have the ability to pay. This is a concept that the Johnson's have been mulling over for quite some time now and haven't quite known how to carry it out. Well, they still don't know all of the details. But, the process in developing this landmark program has begun.
Bryson and Melissa Johnson have operated their successful academy for over 5 years in the Cary area. Through their project-based leadership program, the instructors have taught children how to run their own community action projects where they host events like 5k races, jumprope for heart fundraisers, rainwater barrel auctions, various charity events, book clubs, SAT math clinics, even assisting with Habitat Home builds.
Melissa and Bryson Johnson have their next project ahead of them-to give children who are not afforded the same opportunities the ability to receive the highest quality martial arts education available today.
Hasn't Johnson's TaeKwonDo and Leadership Academy already been offering scholarships to students this whole time? The answer is yes, Johnson's currently has 7 percent of it's students on a scholarship.
However, the Johnsons have a commitment to their current students. So, the academy is proposing having additional class times each week for scholarship students to train-thus not increasing the current student-instructor ratios.
How would this be different from other scholarship or outreach programs? Firstly, the level of instruction that scholarship students will receive will be top-notch. Our commitment to excellence on the floor will continue to shine through. Secondly, there is no hidden agenda, only transparency. There are martial arts schools that host scholarship programs where they put pressure on the students to raise money for their programs that they are supposed to be doing as a charity. This disturbs us. If you are going to do something good, do it out of the goodness of your heart, not because you are getting paid to do so. On the facade of many of these programs, they appear to be altruistic. In reality, they are not giving all that much. This is why the Johnsons would not directly benefit from this program. There will be certain costs associated with uniforms, belts, equipment, etc, and we will be looking forward to forging relationships with other local businesses to cover these costs. however the costs will all be wholesale and not retail. Again, Johnson's would not receive a dime.
Growing up from a humble background, Bryson Johnson spent much of his early years without a father in his life. His grandfather was the most prominent male role-model he had, and Bryson learned many lessons on manhood from him. Later, Bryson looked up greatly to his TaeKwonDo instructor, and the lessons he learned from martial arts training gave him the confidence, determination, and follow-through to graduate college with a B.S. in computer science and work for 6 successful years in the I.T field. Now, Bryson has been married for 8 years to his middle school sweetheart, Melissa and has a 2 1/2 year old son that he adores. Life is good. Bryson says, "The best thing that we could do for the community is to offer those less fortunate with the opportuities that our academy provides."
Again, the Johnsons are looking for business relationships that will make this program a reality. For information on how you can help, call (919) 469-5555.
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