Shalala Dubuisson was 13 years old when a massive earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, killing tens of thousands of people and turning her family’s world upside down. The last thing the traumatized teenager needed when her parents sent her to live in America in the aftermath was more turmoil, but that’s what she found in a place that was supposed to be a refuge.

Shalala’s new school in South Florida turned out to be different than her school in Haiti. Less discipline. More disrespect for teachers. And Shalala’s inability to speak English at first made her a target for bullies.

Problems continued in ninth grade, when Shalala began attending her zoned high school in Homestead. That’s when Christina Toussaint, Shalala’s older sister and de facto mom in the U.S., decided enough was enough.

“In less than a month she got into like three or four fights,” Christina said.

Connections within the local Haitian community led Christina to Ebenezer Christian School, a small, orderly school tucked between a shopping plaza and a residential area. She needed to find the right fit for Shalala and also wanted to enroll Chanukah, her 6-year-old sister.

Principal Rose Flore Charles, who is Haitian, told Christina and her parents about the Step Up For Students scholarship, a program that gives low-income and working-class families tuition assistance to choose from more than 1,600 schools statewide.

“They could not afford a private school,” Charles said. “It was tough … especially because (Shalala) was very emotional after the earthquake.”

Even a glimpse into Shalala’s backstory makes it easy to see why.

On January 12, 2010, Shalala was staying late for math tutoring in Port-au-Prince when, suddenly, the world shook. She ran out of her school in time to watch half of it collapse.

As the ground continued to shake, Shalala could hear screams. (more…)