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
Military Family, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, School Choice, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Education choice scholarship a 'game-changer' for military family transferring to Florida
Sep 16, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, School Choice, Step Up For Students
A Man for Others: Jesuit High senior embodies the school's commitment to serve those in need
Dec 18, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Scholarship News, School Choice, Step Up For Students
The challenges of attending a private school prepared the Mathis siblings for the challenges of life
Dec 17, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Step Up For Students, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, School Spotlights
This experience is fun, exciting, scary: What is appearing on 'Jeopardy!'?
Dec 11, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Step Up For Students, Beyond the Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, School Choice, School Spotlights
Why retire when you can breathe life into your alma mater and save it from closing
Dec 5, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
Student Spotlights, Beyond the Scholarship, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Home Education, Personalized Education Program, School Choice, Step Up For Students
Ed Choice scholarship helps student-athlete navigate the world of Name, Image, and Likeness
Nov 17, 2025 • By Roger Mooney
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Browse More From The Blog
Putting the 'student' in 'student-athlete' with the help of an education choice scholarship
BY ROGER MOONEY TAMPA – The numbers Joquez Smith compiled as a running back during his four years of high school football place him among the best to have ever played in Hillsborough County. The numbers he’s earned in the classroom at Jesuit High School, an academically demanding Catholic school in Tampa, are just as […]
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Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Gardiner Scholarships, Hope Scholarship, Rising Stars, Student Spotlights
Time to nominate your Step Up students for the annual Rising Stars Awards event
It’s time for educators to nominate students for Step Up For Students’ annual Rising Stars Awards. The recipients will be honored in April at events at eight schools across the state. The schools will be announced at a later date. Students must be enrolled in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC), Family Empowerment Scholarship for […]
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Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Education choice scholarships help family continue on chosen education path
BY ROGER MOONEY Those were tears of joy rolling down her cheeks after Maureen Press opened the email and learned her four children were eligible for education choice scholarships that would keep them in private school. “I was beside myself,” Maureen recalled of that day in the spring of 2017. “I didn’t think it would […]
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New private school seeks to connect Florida students with their Jewish roots
BY LISA BUIE Rabbi Isaac Melnick thinks learning should be fun. As a young teacher in a Hebrew dual-language charter school in South Florida, he ran a lively after-school program that taught Torah to students who wanted to receive Judaic instruction. He called the program Torah 4 Everyone. He also ran Camp Cooluna, a summer camp […]
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Purple Star program lets Florida Catholic schools nurture military families
BY LISA BUIE It’s tough being the new kid in school. It’s even tougher being the new kid every two to three years. That’s the norm for 1.2 million United States children born into military families. According to the Military Child Education Coalition, military-connected children move six to nine times between kindergarten and high school graduation. Florida […]
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Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, Gardiner Scholarships, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Fighting for life since birth, Peyton has 'overcome everything they told us she wouldn’t overcome'
BY ROGER MOONEY OKEECHOBEE – Peyton Williams entered this world with a damaged heart, a damaged airway and hardly any hope from doctors who examined her the day she was born. They told her mother her baby wouldn’t survive her first 24 hours. Then she was told Peyton wouldn’t live to her first birthday. Peyton […]
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Education choice scholarship gave Taty the 'true experience of what school is supposed to be'
BY ROGER MOONEY When she arrived at The Foundation Academy, a private K-12 school in Jacksonville, Tatyanna “Taty” Thibeaux was a shy student who didn’t say much and kept to herself. Some of that, her mother Lucy said, stemmed from a language delay. “When she was little, she really didn’t speak,” Lucy said. “She really […]
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Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, School Choice, School Spotlights, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
School choice in Florida’s oyster country
Editor’s note: This distinctive high school in the Florida Panhandle is another compelling example of how education choice manifests in rural areas, contrary to myths perpetuated by choice opponents in other states. To rebut that misinformation, reimaginED published a new white paper last week called “Rerouting the Myths of Rural Education Choice.” You can check […]
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School Choice, Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Video: School choice at work in rural America
Editor’s note: This video spotlights a rural private school that caters to school choice students and is changing lives and communities for the better. To learn more about how choice is helping rural areas, check out our new paper, “Rerouting the Myths of Rural Education Choice.” When you think of school choice, you probably don’t think of places […]
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Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, Step Up For Students, Student Spotlights
Florida earns top education choice rankings in national report
BY LISA BUIE The Center for Education Reform in its annual education choice report has ranked Florida as the country’s No. 1 state for parent empowerment in education. The center’s Parent Power! Index gave Florida its overall top ranking, also rating the Sunshine State No. 1 for digital and personalized learning and education choice programs. […]
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