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
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Beyond the Scholarship, Gardiner Scholarships, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Of Funyuns, Skinny Pop, and iced tea: How Jack brought healthy snacks to his school
Aug 7, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Beyond the Scholarship, graduate, School Choice, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
With the help of a private school scholarship, Duke is 'ready for the bigger world'
Aug 12, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Beyond the Scholarship, Gardiner Scholarships, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Of Funyuns, Skinny Pop, and iced tea: How Jack brought healthy snacks to his school
Aug 7, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Gardiner Scholarships, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Private school scholarships allowed the Roland family to meet the academic needs of their children
Jul 22, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Beyond the Scholarship, School Choice, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
This kid can do things: The Caleb Prewitt Story
Jul 16, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, graduate, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Books, banners, boats and National Merit Scholarships
Jun 30, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
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Browse More From The Blog
Personalized Education Program, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, School Choice, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Yaya's got this, thanks to the help of a PEP scholarship
DELTONA, Florida – Of all the skills Yaeli “Yaya” Santos could have picked to earn a grade in that portion of her eighth-grade physical education class, standing on her head seemed the easiest. Understand this: Yaya does not claim to be athletic in the least, but she had to master a skill, and “How hard […]
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Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Ed choice scholarship a winning combo for the Newton family and Clearwater Central Catholic
CLEARWATER, Florida –The Newton brothers’ reign at Clearwater Central Catholic High School ended on a Thursday night in December when Jershaun, the youngest, played his final football game. It was quite a run for the family who lives down the road in St. Petersburg. It was quite a run for the high school’s football program, […]
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School Spotlights, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Step Up For Students
Ed Choice scholarships are a boon to the expansion of Key West's Catholic school
Editor's Note: This story originally ran on Florida Politics. The dream, the goal, the answer to many prayers is a three-story building that houses seven classrooms, a chemistry lab, a library – and since school resumed after the Christmas break, 54 students in grades nine through 11. Welcome to Basilica High School, which sits on […]
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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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Donor Corner, Beyond the Scholarship, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Scholarship News, Step Up For Students
Cadence Bank donates $400,000 to scholarships for Florida students
Tampa, Fla.– Cadence Bank has contributed $400,000 to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, helping nearly 50 Florida students access the education that is best for them to succeed. Cadence Bank is a leading regional banking franchise with more than 400 branch locations across the South, Midwest and Texas. It provides consumers, businesses and corporations […]
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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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Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company donates $5 million to help provide scholarships for Florida students
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.– Step Up For Students announced December 4 that Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company (UPCIC) has contributed $5 million to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, helping nearly 620 Florida schoolchildren access the education option that is best for them. Since 2017, UPCIC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc., […]
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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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