ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeff Barlis
My background story
What I did before joining Step Up For Students
What do I do on my day off?
How to reach out?
07/26/19 | Jeff Barlis
Perseverance, tenacity sets Florida twins on path to success
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Twin brothers Alan and Axel Escobar-Medina grew up so shy that when their mom took them to playgrounds as toddlers, they preferred to play with each other...
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06/27/19 | Jeff Barlis
Teen rises above spina bifida, earns academic scholarship to Florida Tech
Tears tumbled down Tiffanie Kowalik’s cheeks as she tried to hold her camera phone steady and focus on documenting her firstborn son, Skieler, reading aloud his acceptance letter to the...
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06/21/19 | Jeff Barlis
Venture Incubator project aims to grow new private schools, leaders
LAKELAND, Fla. – In announcing Friday the creation of the Florida Education Venture Incubator, Bill Olsen posed an inviting question to about 850 private school educators: Have you ever thought...
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06/08/19 | Jeff Barlis
Jacksonville private school, scholarship fueled student’s emotional turnaround
Editor’s note: This month, redefinED is revisiting stories that shine a light on extraordinary students. Today’s spotlight, first published in March 2017, tells the story of a Jacksonville youth who...
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05/23/19 | Jeff Barlis
Customized education reaps benefits for Jacksonville teen
When Kayla Fudge was a newborn, her mother struggled to take care of her. In swooped Kayla’s great aunt Glendora like a guardian angel. She loved. She nurtured. And she...
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05/07/19 | Jeff Barlis
Mother-son team collaborate to offer education choice
POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – When Julia Musella enrolled her son Luciano in preschool in Italy, her understanding of education underwent a sea change. “People were talking to children as if...
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04/23/19 | Jeff Barlis
From held back to no holding back
LAKE CITY, Fla. – Sitting in the principal’s office of her twin sons’ school, Kim Glover pushed aside a couple of strands of wavy, auburn hair and took a breath...
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03/20/19 | Jeff Barlis
Patience, understanding bring scholarship student back from brink
OCOEE, Fla. – The young teacher called, tears choking her words. She wanted to quit. On the other end of the line was Rose Theagene, horrified but not surprised. She...
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02/27/19 | Jeff Barlis
Private school, public district collaborate to benefit teachers, students
CAPE CORAL, Fla. – Judi Hughes is a serial retirer. Nowhere is her quick wit more evident than when she explains why she came out of retirement a third time...
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02/20/19 | Jeff Barlis
The family no one knew was homeless
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Just when Ruthanne Dumas thought her life couldn’t fall apart any further, she got the biggest scare of it. A steady financial decline had left her...
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01/30/19 | Jeff Barlis
Once bullied, now safe, happy, and thriving
BELLE GLADE, Fla. – When she’s in class, the look on Armani Powe’s face is solemn, focused. She doesn’t harden her gaze intentionally. It happens naturally. “When it comes to...
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11/14/18 | Jeff Barlis
Adopted siblings thriving in private school after severe neglect in early childhood
Editor’s note: To mark National Adoption Awareness Month, RedefinED is highlighting a choice scholarship that serves children who are or were in Florida’s foster care system. INVERNESS, Fla. – There...
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10/29/18 | Jeff Barlis
Military family on mission to raise awareness for Gardiner scholarships
TAMPA, Fla. – Two months after her son was diagnosed with autism, Laurie Guzman felt broken and defeated, exhausted from searching for the right school. A scholarship made her...
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10/22/18 | Jeff Barlis
A scholarship and a small private school led a tormented girl to happiness
MIAMI – It’s hard to miss Nicole Meneses at Pneuma Christian Academy. If she’s not front and center in every photo on every social media post, she’s stealing the show...
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09/25/18 | Jeff Barlis
From bullied and failing to Hope, honors and college
GROVELAND, Fla. – The sign at their church trumpeted the opening of a new private school: HOPE ACADEMY NOW ENROLLING For Adaijah Jackson and her mother, Sheila James, the word...
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09/10/18 | Jeff Barlis
School choice gave this educator a LiFT
SEMINOLE, Fla. – Kim Kuruzovich’s daughter Gina has moderate autism, speech apraxia and dyslexic tendencies. She began a suite of therapies at age 2, then, at age 4, saw a...
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08/27/18 | Jeff Barlis
Choosing the right school helped turn tragedy into triumph
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – In the damp, rising heat of a late-morning graduation ceremony in May, with historic Farragut Hall as a backdrop, a hush crept through the crowd of...
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07/30/18 | Jeff Barlis
After school choice helps her, she helps Puerto Rico
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”9″ gal_title=”Raising Knowledge relief”] Last fall, as she started her senior year in high school, IvonD’liz Chernoff was full of love and gratitude. She was excelling in school. She...
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06/27/18 | Jeff Barlis
School choice scholarship student soars after quickly hurdling language barrier
MIAMI – The day after Maria Corrales’ tear-soaked graduation ceremony from St. Brendan High School, her mother, Carmen Urquijo, still searched for perspective. “I have no words,” said Urquijo of her oldest...
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