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 Educational Options, Beyond the Scholarship, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
A new school and its challenging environment started Owen on his journey to the Naval Academy
Apr 3, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Donor Corner, Beyond the Scholarship, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Scholarship News, Step Up For Students
Olympus Insurance Donates More Than $3 Million To Help Provide Scholarships For Florida Schoolchildren
Apr 10, 2025 • By Ashley Zarle
Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Step Up For Students
Taking advantage of her opportunities, Zori reaches Step 1 of her life plan – an Ivy League scholarship
Apr 7, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Beyond the Scholarship, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
A new school and its challenging environment started Owen on his journey to the Naval Academy
Apr 3, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Beyond the Scholarship, School Spotlights, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Wait till you see where Khyla is going
Mar 25, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Beyond the Scholarship, School Choice, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Tiovanni's road to being 'magnificent' starts with an education choice scholarship
Mar 19, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Your gift will change a student's life
Our dedication to students doesn’t end when they receive a scholarship. Your support will enable Step Up to maximize the impact of the scholarships the students receive.
Donate now!
Browse More From The Blog
Taking control of their children's education with the help of the PEP scholarship
Gabriel Lynch III was born five months early and weighed 1.8 ounces when he entered this world fighting for his life. He spent his first three months in an Orlando hospital. When he was just weeks old, he was removed from an incubator and airlifted to a Tampa hospital for heart surgery. By then, Gabriel […]
Learn More
E'leese set a goal to graduate high school early and she did ... at age 12
It’s halfway through summer vacation and 12-year-old E’leese Shelton is bored. When you breeze through elementary and middle school and graduate high school before becoming a teenager, learning is your thing. So, the trip earlier this summer to North Carolina was nice. The family visited High Shoals Falls and escaped the Florida Panhandle heat. But, […]
Learn More
Of pop art, plate tectonics and a super-strong Minotaur: How PEP allows one family to tailor lessons to their children's interests
Something about the Periodic Table of Elements grabs Conrad Black’s interest. All those chemicals and their atomic numbers. He heard about it, read about it, but didn’t know anything about it. Until this past school year. For his fifth-grade science course, Conrad chose to learn about energy and chemistry – specifically, the Periodic Table. “He […]
Learn More
He started a scholarship at his high school to honor a friend and enable future students to have the 'exact experience I’m having'
TAMPA – The night ended with a set of Latin music, one of Victor Peña’s favorites, and everyone inside the theater on the campus of Jesuit High School was standing and moving something – arms, legs, hips. It was the final set of a two-hour concert to raise money for a scholarship to honor Victor, […]
Learn More
The path to being an advanced manufacturing engineer began with an education choice scholarship
The faces looking back at Da’Shaun Holmes appeared familiar. They looked like Da’Shaun. Well, a younger version of Da’Shaun. They were students at Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg, Da’Shaun’s alma mater, and they were eager to hear what he had to say. Da’Shaun was ready for the challenge. “I was there to inspire,” he […]
Learn More
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Gardiner Scholarships, School Choice, School Spotlights, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
How do you help children with severe development and behavioral needs? You build them a school
DORAL – This was supposed to be Elise’s school, the white two-story building with beige trim that sits on a quiet street and serves students with moderate to severe development and behavioral needs. When John and Jamie Althoff learned Elise, their unborn daughter, had Down syndrome, they wondered what education options existed near their South […]
Learn More
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Gardiner Scholarships, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Bella's life was worthy of a documentary and Columbus High senior Sebastian Broche was 'the perfect guy' to direct it
Originally, all Raymond Rodriguez-Torres was expecting was a public service announcement honoring his late daughter. He – and his daughter’s memory – received more. Much more. Rodriguez-Torres hoped the multi-media club at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, his alma mater, could produce a PSA about Live Like Bella, the nonprofit that battles childhood cancer […]
Learn More
Honoring Dad, a fallen hero, on Memorial Day
Air Force Col. Thomas Falzarano was a family man, the type of dad who came home from work and raced his young sons to the backyard trampoline, bouncing around on the mat while Michael and Thomas jumped up and down for all they were worth. Laughter filled the neighboring yards. “We all loved it,” said […]
Learn More
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, graduate, Rising Stars, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Journey's journey includes volleyball, an education choice scholarship and now college
PINELLAS PARK – The workers involved in the adoption process in Guatemalan called her Viaje, which translates to English as Trip or Journey because her adoptive parents from Idaho had settled on the name “Journey” for the toddler. What’s in a name? Well, life has been a journey for Journey Hinz, who graduated this month […]
Learn More
Jaydis is a 'powerful example' of the transformative impact education choice can have on a student
ST. PETERSBURG – Jaydis Kincade sat at a picnic table in the shade next to the vegetable garden maintained by his classmates at Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg and set up a chess board. Out came the rooks, the bishops, the knights. The pawns, the king, the queen. He aligned them in their correct […]
Learn MoreNo more content to load.
Load More