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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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