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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CES Academy of Lakeland strives to accommodate gifted students like Aleksandar
Editor’s note: This story is published in celebration of National School Schools Week, which runs Jan. 26-Feb. 1. LAKELAND, Florida – Aleksandar Kurilenko arrived at his new school as a seventh-grader backed by a family who wanted him to be challenged academically, including a mother who told administrators that her son was “so smart.” It’s […]
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Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Rising Stars, School Choice, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
The option of an education choice scholarship will expand Joly's options for college and beyond
TAMPA, Florida – It was the first day of freshman year and everyone at Tampa Catholic High School was a stranger to Joly Masoud. Classmates. Teachers. Administrators. Scared? Yes, Joly admitted. “I was just trying to find my way,” she said. Joly found her way to a front-row desk in Hannah Taylor’s Eastern-Western Heritage history […]
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Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
The right educational setting has Khloe learning with resilience
SANFORD, Florida – Elsa the Snow Queen sang “Let it Go” as Kimberly Jones entered the room. Kimberly’s daughter, Khloe, 2 at the time, sat with her eyes laser-locked on the TV, watching “Frozen” for the umpteenth time. Let it go, let it go Can't hold it back anymore “Perfect pitch,” Kimberly remembered. “I thought, […]
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Author! Author! Charisma loves school so much she wrote a book about it
SANFORD, Florida – Charisma Lowery loves fractions, which is not something you hear every day from a third-grader, but she does. Mixed fractions, improper fractions – bring ’em on. Charisma, 7, loves fractions so much that one morning while in the second grade, she jumped out of her mom’s car during drop-off and ran to […]
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Personalized Education Program, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, graduate, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
At 19, Gabriel is an ordained minister, motivational speaker, author, and now an education choice advocate
Gabriel Lynch III is new to his role as an education choice advocate. Though in essence, he’s been doing it nearly all his life. He’s a product of both private and homeschooled education. He’s attended brick-and-mortar schools and studied virtually. Along the way, Gabriel, 19, has become an ordained minister, a motivational speaker, an accomplished […]
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Step Up For Students, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, School Choice, School Spotlights
Two more Step Up schools earn prestigious National Blue Ribbon Schools distinction
St. Michael Academy in Fernandina Beach and St. John Paul II Catholic High School in Tallahassee were among the 15 Florida schools to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools. They are the only private schools of the 15. Both accept Florida educational choice scholarships managed by Step […]
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Bringing water to remote villages in Tanzania a 'life-changing' event for Clearwater Central Catholic students
CLEARWATER – The orphans in a tiny town in Tanzania left the biggest impression on Sarah Williams. They were so cute and kind and happy. And curious. The children were fascinated with Sarah’s long hair. It’s something rarely seen in that part of the world, where water is so scarce the locals shave their heads […]
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Education choice scholarship a pleasant surprise for this military family stationed in Jacksonville
Jackson Pelletier’s enrollment at St. Paul’s Catholic School Riverside on an education choice scholarship began with a trip to the pediatrician. That’s when his parents, Natasha and Greg, noticed the private school in Jacksonville located across the street from the doctor’s office. The family had just moved to the area from San Diego after Greg, […]
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Education choice scholarship a boon for a military veteran and his family
MIRAMAR – William Ivins moved his family to South Florida ahead of his retirement from the United States Marine Corps and enrolled his children at Mother of Our Redeemer Catholic School, hoping they would reap the same rewards as he did from a faith-based education. But, as William and his wife, Claudia, would soon learn, […]
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PEP scholarship allows for 'A-plus homeschool experience' for one family
In July, Jessie Pedraza was reading through posts on a Facebook page for mothers who homeschool their children when she saw three words jump off her screen. Personalized Education Program. “I responded, ‘Hello. What is this?” Jessie said. So Jessie texted one of the moms. Then they met for coffee. “I picked her brain and […]
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