Local teacher/author inspires young girls to be their personal best

Posted on June 9, 2021 By Editor Neighborhood News, Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, Murray Hill, San Jose, San Marco, St. Nicholas

Daughter Zandria participates with her mother, Tave, in supporting Erin Mah during San Marco Bookstore’s author showcase in April. Tave is Mah’s mentor in completing two books of her own. Mah, who is also part of the Landon Middle School faculty, has started her own company, Old Frame Press, to publish her books.

English/language arts teacher and author PeTika Tave is putting the power of words to work to empower girls from every walk of life. She has written the BayaBook series to help parents empower their kids so that they can successfully navigate the challenges in life. Beautiful As You Are and Brilliant As You Are include her messages of self-acceptance and self-esteem.

“Children of today are faced with so many images of society’s definition of perfection that they must learn to accept themselves for who they are, just the way they are,” Tave said.

Tave writes from personal experience. At the age of 13, she was 300 pounds and six feet tall. Despite constant dieting, she reached an all-time high of 427 pounds by the time she was 22, which caused depression, emotional eating,
low self-esteem and no self-confidence.

Vowing to be a better role model for her first child, she lost over 200 pounds through healthy lifestyle changes and exercise. At the age of 29, while expecting her second child, a girl, Tave started writing poetry to give her daughter and other young girls something the sense of self-worth that she struggled to find.

Tave, a Jacksonville native, was in the first class of students in the college prep program that progressed from James Weldon Johnson Middle School to Stanton College Preparatory School. She started teaching middle school at Joseph Stillwell and then was sent to Highlands Middle School, where she taught for eight years before going to Julia Landon College Preparatory and Leadership Development School in San Marco.

“I love hearing from former students and was thoroughly shocked to learn that Mr. Kenneth Ford, one of Duval County’s five finalists for Teacher of the Year this year, attributed his love of writing to my class,” said Tave.

To order books from the BayaBooks collection, visit her website, www.bayabooks.com, Chamblin’s Uptown or San Marco Bookstore.