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inspirED
Meet our scholars, educators, donors, and partners.
Transforming Our Community.
One Scholarship at a Time.
Step Up For Students Scholarships do more than fund education. They change lives. Students thrive in environments that fit their needs. Educators extend their reach to support vulnerable students. Communities grow stronger as educational systems improve.
This is inspireEd. Welcome.
Here, you will get an inside view of that transformation in progress. See what happens when students and their families discover the power of taking control over their academics. Watch as they forge new pathways to a better future. Find inspiration in their determination to achieve their dreams.
These are the stories of Florida students who have renewed hope because they have a school that better fits their needs or educational materials to unlock their potential. They are the stories of a community that has come together to support the belief that educational choice matters. Here, you can be a part of this incredible journey.
This is inspireEd. Welcome.
Here, you will get an inside view of that transformation in progress. See what happens when students and their families discover the power of taking control over their academics. Watch as they forge new pathways to a better future. Find inspiration in their determination to achieve their dreams.
These are the stories of Florida students who have renewed hope because they have a school that better fits their needs or educational materials to unlock their potential. They are the stories of a community that has come together to support the belief that educational choice matters. Here, you can be a part of this incredible journey.
Latest Posts
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Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
He started a scholarship at his high school to honor a friend and enable future students to have the 'exact experience I’m having'
Jul 3, 2024 • By Roger Mooney
![](https://www.stepupforstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/Genevieve-Lemmon-PEP-feature-pic.png)
Personalized Education Program, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Wherefore art thou Genevieve? She's directing the Tallahassee Homeschool Shakespeare Club
Aug 9, 2024 • By Roger Mooney
![](https://www.stepupforstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/Gabriel-Lynch-PEP-graduation.jpg)
Personalized Education Program, School Choice, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Taking control of their children's education with the help of the PEP scholarship
Jul 29, 2024 • By Roger Mooney
![](https://www.stepupforstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/Eleese-shelton-FTC-feature-pic.png)
Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
E'leese set a goal to graduate high school early and she did ... at age 12
Jul 17, 2024 • By Roger Mooney
![](https://www.stepupforstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/Black-family-PEP-feature-pic-1.png)
Personalized Education Program, Beyond the Scholarship, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Of pop art, plate tectonics and a super-strong Minotaur: How PEP allows one family to tailor lessons to their children's interests
Jul 15, 2024 • By Roger Mooney
![](https://www.stepupforstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/Carlos-Lamoutte-FES-EO.png)
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
He started a scholarship at his high school to honor a friend and enable future students to have the 'exact experience I’m having'
Jul 3, 2024 • By Roger Mooney
Your gift will change a student's life
Our dedication to students doesn’t end when they receive a scholarship. Your support will enable Step Up to maximize the impact of the scholarships the students receive.
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Browse More From The Blog
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Putting the 'student' in 'student-athlete' with the help of an education choice scholarship
BY ROGER MOONEY TAMPA – The numbers Joquez Smith compiled as a running back during his four years of high school football place him among the best to have ever played in Hillsborough County. The numbers he’s earned in the classroom at Jesuit High School, an academically demanding Catholic school in Tampa, are just as […]
Learn More![](https://www.stepupforstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/Taty-3.jpg)
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Gardiner Scholarships, Hope Scholarship, Rising Stars, Student Spotlights
Time to nominate your Step Up students for the annual Rising Stars Awards event
It’s time for educators to nominate students for Step Up For Students’ annual Rising Stars Awards. The recipients will be honored in April at events at eight schools across the state. The schools will be announced at a later date. Students must be enrolled in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC), Family Empowerment Scholarship for […]
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Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Education choice scholarships help family continue on chosen education path
BY ROGER MOONEY Those were tears of joy rolling down her cheeks after Maureen Press opened the email and learned her four children were eligible for education choice scholarships that would keep them in private school. “I was beside myself,” Maureen recalled of that day in the spring of 2017. “I didn’t think it would […]
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New private school seeks to connect Florida students with their Jewish roots
BY LISA BUIE Rabbi Isaac Melnick thinks learning should be fun. As a young teacher in a Hebrew dual-language charter school in South Florida, he ran a lively after-school program that taught Torah to students who wanted to receive Judaic instruction. He called the program Torah 4 Everyone. He also ran Camp Cooluna, a summer camp […]
Learn More![](https://www.stepupforstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/Purple-Star-program.jpg)
Purple Star program lets Florida Catholic schools nurture military families
BY LISA BUIE It’s tough being the new kid in school. It’s even tougher being the new kid every two to three years. That’s the norm for 1.2 million United States children born into military families. According to the Military Child Education Coalition, military-connected children move six to nine times between kindergarten and high school graduation. Florida […]
Learn More![](https://www.stepupforstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/Peyton-Williams-FES-UA.jpeg)
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Gardiner Scholarships, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Fighting for life since birth, Peyton has 'overcome everything they told us she wouldn’t overcome'
BY ROGER MOONEY OKEECHOBEE – Peyton Williams entered this world with a damaged heart, a damaged airway and hardly any hope from doctors who examined her the day she was born. They told her mother her baby wouldn’t survive her first 24 hours. Then she was told Peyton wouldn’t live to her first birthday. Peyton […]
Learn More![](https://www.stepupforstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/Taty-step-up.png)
Education choice scholarship gave Taty the 'true experience of what school is supposed to be'
BY ROGER MOONEY When she arrived at The Foundation Academy, a private K-12 school in Jacksonville, Tatyanna “Taty” Thibeaux was a shy student who didn’t say much and kept to herself. Some of that, her mother Lucy said, stemmed from a language delay. “When she was little, she really didn’t speak,” Lucy said. “She really […]
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Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, School Choice, School Spotlights, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
School choice in Florida’s oyster country
Editor’s note: This distinctive high school in the Florida Panhandle is another compelling example of how education choice manifests in rural areas, contrary to myths perpetuated by choice opponents in other states. To rebut that misinformation, reimaginED published a new white paper last week called “Rerouting the Myths of Rural Education Choice.” You can check […]
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School Choice, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Video: School choice at work in rural America
Editor’s note: This video spotlights a rural private school that caters to school choice students and is changing lives and communities for the better. To learn more about how choice is helping rural areas, check out our new paper, “Rerouting the Myths of Rural Education Choice.” When you think of school choice, you probably don’t think of places […]
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Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Florida earns top education choice rankings in national report
BY LISA BUIE The Center for Education Reform in its annual education choice report has ranked Florida as the country’s No. 1 state for parent empowerment in education. The center’s Parent Power! Index gave Florida its overall top ranking, also rating the Sunshine State No. 1 for digital and personalized learning and education choice programs. […]
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