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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Two Step Up For Students schools earn coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools distinction

Holy Spirit Catholic School, a preK-8 school in Jacksonville with an enrollment of 219, and St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, with a student body of more than 2,000, are the only schools in Florida to earn the coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools distinction for 2022. Both schools have students who receive education […]
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Willette's story: Vibing to her own frequency and helping everyone she meets along the way

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Willette Treadway wants to help. She wants to help her classmates, teachers and administrators at North Florida School of Special Education, where she is in the Secondary 3 classroom. She wants to help her family and friends. She wants to help the homeless population in Jacksonville. “One thing about me,” Willette said, […]
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Education choice scholarship helps Khairi dream big

ROGER MOONEY MIAMI GARDENS, Florida – Like nearly every football-playing high school senior in the country, Khairi Muhammad dreams of an All-American college career that leads to his selection near the top of the NFL Draft. The desire fuels him, sometimes waking him in the middle of the night with a burst of adrenalin so […]
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Gas South donates $500,000 to support Florida schoolchildren

Gas South, one of the leading natural gas marketers in the Southeast, has contributed $500,000 to Step Up For Students, helping more than 65 Florida schoolchildren attend a K-12 school that best fits their learning needs. This is the first year that Gas South has partnered with Step Up For Students, a nonprofit organization that […]
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Of courage, basketball and conquering the obstacles in his way: The Justin Williams story

OCOEE, Florida – Justin Williams was 8 when he underwent surgery to allow more room for his brain to grow. For two months he wore a halo brace and a plate on the roof of his mouth to push the bones in his face forward one agonizing millimeter at a time. At one point, Justin […]
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'Better options' for their daughter included a move to America and an education choice scholarship

Roberto Porras was at his job as a pharmaceutical rep in his native Venezuela when his wife, Ony, called with the news that she was pregnant. It was the spring of 2003, and Roberto, overjoyed at the thought of becoming a dad, was concerned about the baby’s future in a country rife with political unrest. […]
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School is not out for summer at TRU Prep Academy, which has adopted a year-round schedule

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida – The calendar said it was July 6, but parents pulled their cars to a stop outside TRU Prep Academy and students stepped out wearing their standard school attire – black slacks, white shirts, and red ties. School is out for summer in most parts of the country, but at TRU Prep […]
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How do you turn students into readers? At Alpha Learning Academy, by turning a classroom into a library

ORLANDO, Florida – Shakelia Henderson sat behind the desk inside a classroom that was recently converted into a library and nodded at the shelves full of books that lined the walls. “This,” she said, “is the beginning of a literacy journey that’s going to make our kids stronger. I really do believe that.” Henderson just […]
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After taking charge of his education, Step Up alumni achieves goal of attending University of Florida

On a Wednesday morning in early January, a day after he turned 20, Josep Amiguet walked into a classroom inside Matherly Hall on the edge of campus for his intermediate microeconomics class, his first as a student at the University of Florida. “OK,” he remembers thinking, “I’m here.” It took three years of laser-like focus […]
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Former Step Up For Students scholar chasing major league dream

On a sun-dappled Sunday afternoon in mid-April, Jay Allen gave his mother a gift she will treasure forever. With Deanna Singletary among the family members sitting in the front row behind the third base dugout at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida, Jay hit his first home run of the season for the Daytona Tortugas, […]
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