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
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
Jul 21, 2026 • By Roger Mooney
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
Jul 21, 2026 • By Roger Mooney
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
Jul 14, 2026 • By Roger Mooney
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'
Jul 6, 2026 • By Roger Mooney
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
Jun 29, 2026 • By Roger Mooney
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
Jun 23, 2026 • By Roger Mooney
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Browse More From The Blog
Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, graduate, Rising Stars, School Choice, Step Up For Students
All Gabby wanted was to graduate this May; being valedictorian was a plus
BRADENTON – The valedictorian sash is typically gold, symbolizing high achievement and excellence. Gabrielle Ford slipped it over her shoulders when she tried on her graduation gown at school a month before the event. She called the moment “surreal.” “I still feel like, ‘What am I doing?’” she said. What she is doing is graduating […]
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Step Up For Students, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, School Choice, Student Spotlights
After a horrifying health scare, an education choice scholarship is opening doors for Milah
Milah Ambrose is 5 and on the autism spectrum. She receives a Florida educational choice scholarship and will begin kindergarten in August. To her parents, Celestina and Joseph, these are comforting times in the life of their oldest daughter. “(The scholarship) will open doors for her to be able to do whatever she would like […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Rising Stars, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Rashad Walker has a crafty way to cure boredom
Rashad Walker’s big idea was born last September in room 429 of the children’s ward of Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola hospital. Rashad, confined to a bed for three weeks after surgery to repair his knock knees, was bored. “Insanely bored,” said his mom, Kiteka “Tiki” Walker. There are only so many books you can read, […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Home Education, Personalized Education Program, Step Up For Students
Of Haydn, hens, and tree forts: The diverse home education of Chiara, the PEP student
TALLAHASSEE – Joseph Haydn’s Sonata 16 filled the house as Chiara Lemmon’s fingers moved across the keys of the family’s piano. Eyes nearly closed, she concentrated on each note. Her head gently bobbed along with the music. A few minutes later, Chiara sat in an adjoining room with her cello. “The music room,” her father, […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Personalized Education Program, Rising Stars, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Meet the 32-million-year-old skull that transformed a PEP student into a paleontologist
EAST BRADENTON – The skull lay buried in a dry riverbed in northern Nebraska, undisturbed for millions of years until Amelia Hemmer walked by and noticed what she thought was an eye socket. It was hard to tell at first glance. The bleached bone blended in with the dirt. But centuries of erosion uncovered just […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Rising Stars, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Baseball is in his blood, and so is serving those less fortunate in his community
TALLAHASSEE, Florida – Javier Santana is the cook, so he doesn’t interact with the diners at the local Ronald McDonald House Charities. But every so often he pokes his head out of the kitchen to see who’s enjoying the pork chops or steak or pasta or whatever he whipped up for the evening meal. Did […]
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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
Noah has big goals, and a Florida Ed Choice scholarship is helping him reach them
TRINITY, Florida – Noah Allen was in middle school when he began to teach himself Latin. College-level Latin. He did that for two years. He also taught himself Japanese. And Korean. “It’s his superpower,” Noah’s mom, Josie, said. “He loves to learn.” Noah, 16, is inherently curious. Theater, art, and music are a few areas […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Personalized Education Program, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Florida ed choice scholarship gives young missionary a 'well-rounded education'
Celie White met children in Guatemala who live on the edge of landfills. They walk behind trucks that dump trash and pick through the garbage for something of value they can exchange for food. Their homes are shanties made of refuse. They are surrounded by filth and disease. There is little hope of an escape […]
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New report shows scaling Florida scholarship program 11 times more effective at improving student performance than increasing public school funding
New research by the American Federation for Children found that scaling Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program over 15 years improved public school student achievement. The report published March 4 by AFC senior fellow Patrick Graff, a former Florida Catholic school teacher, compared two leading peer-reviewed studies of each approach that used Florida data: a 2023 study of Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program over 15 years and […]
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Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, School Choice, Step Up For Students, Step Up Honors
The goal is the Oval Office, and the journey there includes the Olympics
TALLAHASSEE – Amanda Thompson said she will be the president of the United States. Not wants to be or hopes to be but will be. Just like she will be the attorney general of Florida, the governor of Florida, and the United States attorney general before reaching the Oval Office. “That’s the plan,” she said. […]
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