TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Five years ago on May 14, 2020, 18-year-old Alexander Brooks passed away tragically, weeks before graduating from Baboquivari High School (BHS).
As high school graduations near, Alex's father Reggie Brooks, is honoring his son’s legacy by keeping one of his dreams alive, organizing the first ever Alexander Brooks Memorial Scholarship Dinner happening on May 1.
“What I wanted to do is honor his memory in the things he did in the time he had here on Earth,” said Reggie.
A diamond is how Reggie describes his son.
“It has all these different facets to it, different sides and it’s cut. I would kinda put him that way because it was so many things that he was involved in," Reggie said.
Alex had many interests including skateboarding, art, water conservation, and agriculture.
Above all, he loved working on cars.
“Oh yeah, since a little guy. We often went to the drag strip, drag races and I was working on cars. He was right there with me. You know from changing oil to working on doing tires, brakes, yeah. He did that as a child," Reggie described.
He says they shared the same passion and as an educator, this inspired Reggie to accelerate his plan to create the automotive program at BHS through JTED.
“He was one of my students, so you know he got a lot of exposure just being around me and being around cars as he grew up," Reggie said.
Six months after Alex's passing, Reggie accepted a position at JTED @ The Bridges as a robotics and automation teacher and created that program from the ground up.
Reggie says it took him time to build the strength to do what he's doing now.
"There's a proverb, I'm not sure where it comes from, but it says, if you want to go fast, to go by yourself, if you want to go far, go together," Reggie said. "So I have a team of amazing former teachers, colleagues, and actually a childhood friend who retired from Davis Monthan, he's in the Air Force, Master Sgt. Covington. They're my go far team, so we've been able to put this scholarship thing together, and we're just moving forward with it."
The Alexander Brooks Memorial Scholarship Dinner is Thursday May 1 at JTED @ The Bridges located at 3300 S. Park. Avenue from 6-8:00 p.m.
All funds raised will help provide scholarships to seniors in BHS's automotive technology program to support their post-secondary education.
“Turning this tragedy into a hope for somebody cause he never got a chance to see these things," Reggie said.
Each student chosen will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship and the goal is to reach $5,000.
"I would honestly say as much as I've enjoyed my career as a teacher, automotive and robotics and all this stuff, this to me is probably the most important thing I've done in my life," Reggie said.
As of Sunday, maximum capacity has been reached for the dinner, though donations are still being accepted.
Alex was a community member of the Tohono O'odham nation and they've also helped celebrate his life the past five years.
"This is what I learned about grief. First of all, it's like a wave, tidal wave and you can't fight a tidal wave. So you just have to lay and let it take you where it's going to take you, because at the end of that journey is where the healing will happen," Reggie said.
Reggie says he will choose to focus not on how his son died, but how he lived, and offers some advice to anyone who has lost a loved one.
"Take it one day at a time. There's going to be days that you can hop out of bed and some days you may not want to get out of bed at all," said Reggie. "Just know that there is hope through grief and find ways that you can honor your child or loved one in some way."
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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