By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
Students at Brandon Middle and High Schools are learning to ‘Destroy Illusions.’
“It’s about respecting yourself and respecting others,” said Tom Coverly, the motivational speaker who brought his Destroy Illusions presentation to Brandon High School on March 18. “I use comedy and magic as a way of sharing a message with kids.”
The presentation, which was sponsored by Hillside Bible Church and Brandon Groveland Youth Assistance, was given to freshmen and sophomores at the high school, as well as all middle school students.

The focus is on anti-bullying, and respecting yourself and others. The catch is that Coverly doesn’t say the word ‘bullying.’
“When you talk to kids about bullying, their ears turn off,” he said.
The first half of the hour long presentation focuses on showing the kids illusions, that he explains are fake.
This ties in to his points on standards of beauty and how those are illusions as well. He talks about images that kids may see online or in magazines that are edited, and how students shouldn’t try to live up to those standards because they’re an illusion.
The other points in his presentation talk about respecting their parents and their peers.
“I take a moment to talk about respecting mom and dad,” he said. “I challenge the students afterward to text their parents and apologize and say they love them.”
Coverly also talks about what it means to be ‘real’ men and women, and that real men and women treat each other with kindness and respect each other. He also says that ‘real’ men and women apologize for things they’ve done wrong and mistakes they have made.
“My entire goal is I want to make kindness the norm,” he said. “I do believe with everything in me that we can make kindness the norm.”
Afterward, Coverly says the responses he gets are overwhelming.
“It’s amazing how many kids come up and say that they’re the bully, and that they need to apologize to someone,” he said. “One of the greatest responses is when kids are apologizing to each other.”
And throughout the assembly, the students were attentive to the message.
“Tom’s performance was both entertaining while also touching our students’ hearts at the same time. Students were very attentive to his message and really made students think about their own behaviors,” said BHS principal Dan Stevens. “As the performance was taking place I made a point to watch kids’ faces. You could tell that this very important message was hitting home with our students. I am really excited that we had this opportunity to bring this performance into Brandon High School. We will definitely be inviting Tom back.”