From Snowed in to Sunny Side: Joseph's journey to self-enrichment

TITUSVILLE, Florida – Coach Mustard did it.

Not the deed that formed the plot of the Temple Christian School’s production of “Get a Clue.” That might have been Scarlett Starr. Or not. The play is a mystery.

On the surface, Coach Mustard helped solve the mystery. But there was something else going on with Coach, and it wasn’t revealed in any of his 181 lines. It went unnoticed by those who attended one of the ensemble’s two performances in the winter of 2023.

Coach Mustard was played by Joseph Garvin, a 10th grader at the time, and what portraying the well-liked but stern physical education teacher did to Joseph was turn the shy sophomore into an outgoing, confident young man who’s no longer afraid to challenge himself for fear of failure.

Joseph, 19, a straight-A student throughout high school, recently graduated from Temple Christian as the school’s valedictorian. He attended the K-12 private, faith-based school in Titusville with the help of a Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, supported by corporate donations to Step Up For Students.

He plans to attend Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and study nutrition with an eye toward a career as a health coach or a nutritionist.

“I have thanked God many, many times for allowing my children the means to attend this school,” Joseph’s mom, Leanna Garvin, said. “Joseph’s life would be so very, very, different without it. It has allowed him to really flourish, as evidenced by the many awards and glowing accolades given by his administrators, teachers, pastor, and even the City of Titusville.”

Joseph wrote about his journey to and through Temple Christian in his college admission essay, “From Snowed in to Sunny Side.”

“Snowed in” refers to his childhood in Larimore, North Dakota, a no-McDonald's, dot-on-the-map town of a little more than 1,200 located less than 100 miles from the Canadian border. Joseph said it was big news when the Dollar General opened.

He spent his winters building snowmen, having snowball fights, and sledding down the hill of the local park. 

“Snow was a huge aspect of my life,” he said. “We even made this snow cream, we called it. We took fresh snow and put vanilla, milk, and sugar in it.”

Joseph attended school at his local church, where, depending on the year, the number of students in his grade fluctuated between four and six. The school closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Without a school to attend, Joseph and his sister Rebekah, now a rising senior at Temple Christian, were homeschooled.

But Leanna suffers from myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), Fibromyalgia and Raynaud's Disease. Fibromyalgia causes pain and tenderness throughout the body, while ME/CFS causes chronic fatigue. Raynaud's reduces the blood flow to her extremities, a condition worsened by the bitter North Dakota winters.

“She has a very low energy threshold, so she runs out of energy very fast, and then she can, we call it, ‘crash,’” Joseph said.

That made homeschooling a struggle for Leanna, forcing her to look for another educational option.

So, Leanna moved the family south to Titusville to be close to her parents and enrolled her children at Temple Christian. Joseph entered as a ninth grader.

“Temple Christian was the perfect school for my kids,” Leanna said. “They needed the structure of being back in school after struggling through a year of homeschooling, and Temple Christian is a place where structure, standards, and expectations are blended with just the right amount of mercy and grace.

“That is the importance of sending our kids to a Christian school, being able to send them to a place where we know our core values will not only be accepted, but taught, encouraged, and enforced. What we teach at home will be upheld and reinforced by the school, like an extension of us.”

Joseph described the move to Florida as a “culture shock.” In addition to sand replacing snow and humidity replacing wind chill factors, Joseph’s new school was bigger than the one he attended in Larimore.

“It was just like, ‘Whoa, there are so many people.’ It felt so weird to not know everybody,” Joseph said.

His metamorphosis began then. He started eating healthier and lost 45 pounds. He learned about the direct correlation between a person’s diet and their physical and mental well-being. It’s the reason why he wants a career based on nutrition.

He joined the basketball team and played for two seasons, leaving the squad after taking a part-time job.

In the 10th grade, he tried out for the school’s production of “Get a Clue!” Written by Megan Orr, the play mirrors the popular board game and 1985 movie, “Clue.”

There are differences. For one, the dignified and dangerous character with a military background, known as Colonel Mustard, is now a popular gym teacher.

“I pushed myself to try out for that play,” he said. “I was constantly on stage, practicing, talking. It taught me how to memorize, and it taught me how to articulate words better, so that people can understand me better. It taught me not to be afraid, to have confidence.”

Joseph was at times required to run across the stage and do push-ups. Some of his lines were a few words. Some were longer.

He loved every minute of it.

“I definitely think that was a turning point for him,” Temple Christian Administrator Andrea Stoner said. “He gained confidence. He realized he could accomplish things.”

Joseph said that until then, his lack of self-confidence had always held him back.

“I kind of had this mental block in my childhood, thinking that I just couldn't do things. ‘Oh, I can't do that. I'm not capable of doing something like that. I can't improve.’ For some reason, I had the belief that if I wasn't good at something, I would never improve,” he said.

Pushing himself beyond his comfort zone for the play was a pivotal moment during Joseph’s high school years. But there were others. 

Joseph said that by “truly placing his faith in God” as a 10th grader played a big role, as did the teachers and administrators at Temple Christian.

He developed time-management skills by working two jobs – at an ice cream shop near his home and doing yard work and odd jobs on weekends.

Working at the ice cream shop injected Joseph with the self-confidence that comes from working with others and serving customers.

He challenged himself academically by enrolling in a college-level anatomy course at Temple Christian during the 12th grade. He aced it while maintaining a 4.0 GPA in a course load that included several honors courses. It’s no surprise that Joseph graduated first in his class.

“I reach into my memory and think about who all influenced me to become the better version of me,” Joseph said. “I just think about how so many things went together, and it was a culmination of all those things that happened that brought me to where I am now.”

Coach Mustard did it, sure.

But in the story “From Snowed in to Sunny Side,” it’s Joseph who found the answers.

Roger Mooney, manager, communications, can be reached at [email protected]