All Post By Roger Mooney
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About The Author
Roger Mooney
If Roger thought covering the Tampa Bay Rays inexplicable run to the 2008 World Series was strange, imagine how he felt on the March afternoon in 2016 when he stood in the heart of Havana, Cuba while on assignment to cover the Rays historic game against the Cuban national baseball team.
“Is this really happening?” he thought then.
Ah, the life of a sports writer, where the unexpected is the norm.
My background story
From Little League to the World Series, Pop Warner football to the Super Bowl, Roger covered it all during his 20-plus years as a sports writer. He met everyone from Hank Aaron to Ben Zobrist, covered nearly the entire spectrum from youth sports to Florida and Florida State football to the Buccaneers and the Lightning.
It was a good run, filled with great subjects for stories and a lifetime of memories, highlighted by a white-knuckle trip through the backstreets of Havana in a 1956 Dodge that did not have a working horn, speedometer or seatbelts. An unforgettable ride as the cabbie bounced through narrow streets to escape the traffic jam caused by President Obama’s arrival.
Now, Roger is writing about students who benefit from the four scholarships provided by Step Up For Students. These are inspiring stories about children whose lives improved dramatically because of their new educational opportunities.
What I do before joining Step Up For Students?
Before joining Step Up, Roger spent seven seasons covering the Tampa Bay Rays for The Tampa Tribune and two years writing about the Rays and the Tampa Bay Lightning for The Tampa Bay Times.
A native of New York City, Roger’s future as a hall-of-fame baseball player was derailed in high school when he could not make the baseball team. Undaunted, he sets his sights on writing. He studied at St. John’s University and dabbled in real estate and technical writing before finding his first job at a newspaper.
What I do on my day off?
When not working, Roger enjoys running (he has completed three marathons and has his sights set on someday running a fourth), reading (his goal is 20 books a year), bike riding, canoeing and kayaking with his wife, Suzanne, watching sitcoms (Superstore and Young Sheldon currently top the list) and taking his mixed beagle, Story, on long walks.
How to reach out?
Reach me at [email protected].
About The Author
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Student Spotlights, Home Education, Homeschool, Personalized Education Program, School Choice, Step Up For Students
'Wild boy' Leon loves Legos, math, cooking, rescuing animals, and swimming with whale sharks
There are two reasons why Katherine and Spencer Nelson home-educate their son Leon: travel and time. The first is easy. The family has a passion for traveling and the learning that comes with it. The second is personal. “I have a couple of different genetic mutations that, long story short, my life expectancy is not […]
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Student Spotlights, 25th anniversary, Beyond the Scholarship, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, graduate, Scholarship News, School Choice, Step Up For Students
This ed choice scholarship alumni is a licensed clinical social worker with a doctorate, a business owner, and a college professor
Middle school is where Dr. Jasmine Cohen-Young learned to dance. It’s where she fell in love with basketball, a sport that helped pay for college. It’s where she learned that being challenged academically is a good thing and that an improperly tied knot on a sailboat is a bad thing, especially if a loose rope […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Personalized Education Program, School Choice, Step Up For Students
How education choice scholarships meet the needs of one active family
Meet the Genot kids of Bradenton: Kingston, Kenzington, Aurora, and Kohlton. Each with above-average talent in their respective sports – soccer for the boys, gymnastics for Aurora. Each with demanding schedules – school, training, practice. One Florida education choice scholarship managed by Step Up For Students makes it all happen for the family. The Genots […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Home Education, Homeschool, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Meet the Brandt sisters and the story behind their mom's tattoo
EAGLE LAKE, Florida – The tattoo on Elysia Camp’s right bicep catches your eye. It’s hexagons, lines, letters – a chemical compound, though this one includes four flowers. Those seeing it for the first time offer a guess. Caffeine? Adrenaline? No, but nice tries, especially since Elysia was a single mother of three girls and […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Home Education, Homeschool, School Choice, Step Up For Students
A year after her open-heart surgery, Stella is strong, vivacious, and a straight-A student
Stella Vallagi is 6, and she loves her French bulldog, Cookie. Her favorite color is orange, and her favorite meal is chicken francese. She loves to color, and paint, and collect shells at the beach. She can dance, too – ballet, jazz, tap. She wears bows in her hair and takes martial arts. If you […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Inspired by his parents' sacrifices, Henry is headed to the University of Notre Dame and is reaching for the stars
TAMPA – Henry Bravo saw his father around campus every day during the four years he attended Jesuit High School. He’d see him in the maintenance building, where his dad, Hector Sr., worked, or the part of the cafeteria reserved for those employed by the school. They’d bump into each other in hallways or walkways. […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Home Education, Homeschool, Personalized Education Program, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Through their books, Max and Gavin want to empower young readers to believe in themselves
Maxwell “Max” Johnson knows something about you. Maybe you know it, too. Maybe not. Either way, Max wants you to know this: You are smart. He’s so sure you are that he wrote a book about it. Published last December, “Let Me Help You … BE SMART: A Kid’s Guide to Confidence, Focus, and Smart […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Home Education, Homeschool, Personalized Education Program, School Choice, Step Up For Students
PEP scholarship benefits students 'whose needs don’t fit inside the one-size-fits-all system'
Lily Wheeler loves project-based learning, and she loves to draw. She loves phonics lessons that combine the two. Draw a letter and draw an object that matches the letter. One lesson from this past school year stands out to her mother, Erica. Lily, a kindergartener, couldn’t stop looking out the window, and she wouldn’t stop […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Military Family, Personalized Education Program, School Choice, Step Up For Students
What does America mean to Caleb? Freedom, honor, and a whole lot more
To me, America is more than just a country. It means freedom, liberty, and honor. That’s how Caleb Vergara Scott began the nearly 308-word essay he wrote for a contest celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States. The topic: What does America mean to him? He summed it up with his title: America the […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, graduate, Home Education, Homeschool, Personalized Education Program, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Here's the pitch: How a Florida educational choice scholarship helped Cam earn a baseball scholarship
Cameron “Cam” Morgan was 4 when he ran around the living room, touching imaginary bases before stepping on an imaginary home plate. At 5, he could recite baseball statistics, especially those of his favorite players on his favorite team – the Baltimore Orioles. Cartoons and Nickelodeon? Nope. ESPN’s SportsCenter and the MLB Network. Coached by […]
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