Giana takes mighty steps with the help of a Florida ed choice scholarship

ESTERO – Giana Ferreri stood in her school’s atrium, which was filled with students, teachers, parents, and three members of the Naples business community, whom she hoped to impress enough to receive some seed money for her newly launched clothing line for petite girls.

Giana was nervous.

“I don’t like speaking in front of people,” she said.

But confident.

“I had more things to present to the judges,” she said.

More things than her first appearance in front of the judges, which took place earlier in the year at her school, Educational Pathways Academy (EPA), the K-12 private school that serves students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences. EPA has campuses in Naples and Estero.

Giana, who just completed her sophomore year, attends the Estero campus with the help of a Florida education choice scholarship managed by Step Up For Students.

During her first presentation in October, Giana stood before five members of the business community who served as judges and answered their questions about inventory, pricing, and profit margin with the same three words: I don’t know.

“Because I really didn’t know,” she said.

But on this April day, Giana did.

Her PowerPoint was powerful, and she had the answers to all the questions.

In the end, Giana placed first among the 12 students who made presentations. She received $100 for Small But Mighty, her line of shirts, hoodies, and jewelry. She even sold two sets of earrings that day and received several orders for shirts.

“The first time, while it didn't work out, it truly was a learning process,” Kelly Ferreri, Giana’s mother, said. “The feedback that they gave her about what was missing from her presentation, what to add, is what she ended up working on. She took their suggestions, cleaned it up, and ended up doing very well.”

Giana has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other disorders that affect her ability to read, write, and do math. She receives the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities.

She has attended EPA since the sixth grade and found the smaller class sizes and the way the staff teaches to be the perfect academic setting.

“I can't focus on one topic for a long amount of time,” she said. “Here, I can slow down and focus on one thing.

“It’s not hard for me, but it’s challenging.”

Giana, who attended her district school through the fifth grade, struggled to keep up with the lessons. Once she fell behind in a class, she was lost. She also said she struggled with standardized testing. She often had physical reactions – migraine headaches, nausea, and lack of sleep – because of the pressure she felt leading up to those tests.

While EPA students take the Florida Statewide Assessment test, it’s not the only way teachers and administrators measure success.

For instance, teachers focus on each student’s strengths, and most of the students are strong in the visual arts.

“We find that students with learning differences, especially dyslexia, are highly, highly creative, students with strengths in the arts, because they have had to learn to think outside the box their whole life and with their education,” Principal Amanda Davison said. “So, we find that this is definitely playing into their strengths.”

The school offers an ACES program – Art Career Education Studies. Included are classes in oil painting, photography, culinary arts, digital illustration, and jewelry fabrication. There is also a leadership/entrepreneurship class where students learn business skills, which Giana took this year.

Students in that class were asked to develop a business idea they could present to the local business community, with the top three presenters earning seed money to grow their product.

Giana originally was going to develop a jewelry line but decided on a line of shirts and hoodies for petite women because her mom said someone should. Giana’s size leans toward petite. She found her buying options were between children's clothes and adult petite. She wasn't interested in tops adorned with a unicorn, and she thought the adult sizes were too revealing for her tastes.

“I came up with the business idea because my mom was always complaining and saying, ‘Oh, we should start our own business.’ So, I started one,” Giana said.

“She thought it was a good idea,” Kelly said. “And then she came up with her logo and branded the first shirt, and so we're at the very beginning stages of what is her vision.”

Giana initially picked a bunny as her company’s logo because they are “small and mighty.”

She designs her shirts on Canva. It costs $29 to make one. They are priced on the website between $25 and $40.

Kelly said her daughter, who is an accomplished dancer, is developing more confidence in herself and is more willing to try something new. She thinks that stems from Giana’s time at EPA.

“Oh, gosh, definitely,” Kelly said. “There’s just a big difference in how they teach and the attention they give these students. I just feel like the environment produces a well-rounded person going out into the world and doing the right thing.

“The school is very good about exposing them to things they can do to be successful.”

In March, Giana received the “Innovative Student Award” at Step Up For Students' annual Rising Stars Award event. Shelby Wandrey, who teaches EPA’s ACES program, said recognition played a role in Giana’s development this year.

“I definitely think Giana investing all of this time and having the confidence in herself is due to other people recognizing that in her and calling it out,” she said. “I think that was a huge part of her growth.

“Every single drop of affirmation just fueled her.”

Giana’s excitement for the project and her budding business was evident in her nearly daily texts to Shelby that included the latest updates in the product line or her presentation.

“She just had so much passion, and she's just so delightfully tenacious in all that she does,” Shelby said. “She knocked it out of the park.”

Kelly and her husband, Tony, are both college graduates. Tony is an accountant. Kelly left a career in finance for real estate. They want their children to find their own paths and be successful. If that means college, great. A trade school? Great.

“There are many options,” Kelly said. “There’s not just one road. Figure out what you want to do, and we’ll support you.”

Giana recently began talking about going to college. Her clothing line and the positive feedback from the business community piqued that interest.

“I think once the judges started asking her questions, she realized owning a business is bigger than just what you're trying to sell,” Kelly said. “So, it exposed her to things you need to look at if you’re going to run your own business. You need to look at pricing and sizing, and do you want to carry inventory or not? So, it was definitely a really good experience.”

Roger Mooney, manager, communications, can be reached at [email protected].