Step Up For Students Rising Stars Awards 2020-21

Our dreams before us, nothing to hold us back. You showed me we are limitless. The Hope scholarship has given us the opportunity to have a private education for our son Nicholas. He was bullied in public school. My goodness. The garden of scholarship has just. I couldn't be where we are today without it. Look at us now. Look at you shine. I just appreciate the scholarship. You know, she got in, I applied for it, and I was so excited that she was able to attend the private school. One of the biggest sighs of relief that I've ever had because everybody at this school just. You've known them for a couple weeks, but it feels like you've known them for years of your life. I've grown in confidence, and I have found so many amazing passions that I'm super proud of. Without you, I wouldn't be here. Without the people who supported me, I would not be in this position right now. It's really nice to see how he's transformed in the last couple of years. Emma means the world to me. She's just a smile special young lady. Good evening. My name is Doug Tothill, and I'm president of Step up for Students. Welcome to this year's annual Rising Stars celebration. I'm here tonight with the beautiful, intelligent Lauren Barlis and Paula Nelson, who run our department of student learning and partner Success. It's our pleasure to be here celebrating some of our scholarship success stories around the state. Usually we do this event over the course of several days in several locations like Jacksonville or Orlando, and there's always a stop in Miami. Welcome to Miami. Very cool. So what you just witnessed is a little bit of the power of technology, and by just the click of a button, these days, we can be virtually anywhere in the world, including New York City. Wow. I'm gonna go there. Last year, right before our Rising Stars events were about to begin, the world essentially closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Most kids in Florida's brick and mortar schools never returned to those buildings after spring break, finishing their schooling in front of computer screens. Teachers were asked to do the near impossible and completely change the way they taught within days, rather than the months it usually takes to plan a year's worth of lessons. All the time it takes to change a whole year's lesson plan were thrown out. They had to do it only in a couple months. Parents who normally worked at offices suddenly were working from their own homes, too. Dining room tables became desks for children and adults. And for many, including my family, the entire family was under one roof. The entire day. The word zoom became a verb and a household name. Birthday parties became mobile parades by houses, toilet paper became scarce, and masks became part of our daily wardrobe, if we even left the house. But no matter how hard things got, all of us here tonight adapted and we learned and we grew. Of course, we thought and we hoped that we would be back to our normal daily lives by now. We hoped Rising Stars would be a live event this year, but that's not the case. So once again, we have adapted to the changing times, and we are here to celebrate not just those who kept up with their education, but those students who thrived. It is important to celebrate these important accomplishments, especially now. So we continue our tradition of recognizing our Rising Stars tonight. Instead of you coming to us in a school auditorium, we're coming to you virtually from a production studio in Tampa, just a short drive over the bay from our Step up offices in St. Petersburg. We're thrilled to share this moment with you. Now, let's get the celebration started. Education Choice has never been so important or become more prevalent than it is today. In this pandemic, children all across the country have experienced a change in the way they're being taught. Some at brick and mortar schools, some online, some a combination, and more are fully homeschooling. That's why all of us at Stepup are even more invested in pursuing our mission to help public education fulfill the promise of equal opportunity. Simply put, choice is critical even during a global health crisis. Step up for Students is serving more than 150,000 Florida school children this year, and of Those, more than 450 step up for Scholars were nominated by teachers, principals and parents for this year's Rising Stars awards. These scholars use either our Income Based scholarships, the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, the Family Empowerment Scholarship, our Gardner Scholarship for children with certain unique abilities, or our HOPE Scholarship for children who are bullied in schools we couldn't be more proud of our winners. Students will be honored in one of three high achieving students. These are students who excel in academics, arts or athletics. Turnaround Students. These are students who may have struggled when they first attended their school and have since made dramatic improvements. Outstanding student character. These are students who demonstrate outstanding compassion, perseverance, courage, initiative, respect, fairness, integrity, responsibility, honesty or optimism. Because our time here is short, we can't possibly announce all the winners now, but we will put your names up in bright lights on the screen and highlight just a few of the tens of thousands of students using a Step up scholarship for the 2021 school year. During this school year, we awarded our one millionth scholarship. This would not have been possible without the help of legislators, our generous donors, employees, educators, parents and other supporters. Most of these scholarships were Florida tax credit scholarships that have been changing students lives for nearly 20 years by helping some of our state's most disadvantaged students attend the school of their choice. The tax credit scholarship was our first income based scholarship, the second being the family empowerment scholarship created just two years ago. Let's take a look at how these income based scholarships have changed lives. My name is Rose. I'm Heaven's mom. Well, originally I always wanted her to go to private school, but I was like, it's going to be very expensive for her to go to private school. So I'm like, oh, let me start looking at a few little public schools and see where she can get in at because I can't afford for private school. And when I tell you that was a good thing because she got in, I applied for her and I was so excited that she was able to attend the private school because I knew I didn't have the money financially. My name is Heaven White. I am in fifth grade and I go to Guardian Catholic school. I enjoy going to Guardian because I've been there since kindergarten. So I'm used to all the rules and the expectations that we need to meet. But it was very different to be online. It was scary, you know, knowing about all the stuff that was coming out with the pandemic and the coronavirus because Heaven, you know, she suffers with asthma. And I know asthma is a big symptom that, you know, kind of makes the coronavirus a little bit more dangerous. I was scared to get Covid. I was scared that we were going in a pandemic. I couldn't see my friends. We just had to stay home until my mom, she got it. So she had to be in her room 24 7. And so I couldn't see her that much like I could see her but I couldn't be in the same room with her. It's something we haven't experienced before. We never did online learning at all. So I did think that she may slack off or won't pay attention like she should when she's in the actual classroom. But she pulled it off. She's up on time, she's on that computer, you know, paying attention. Don't miss days, back in class after lunch. So she's been doing really good with it. Heaven has just acclimated herself so excellently to this distance learning. She's on at 8 o' clock in the morning, she has her uniform on. She participates through chat or questions. And I just. Just a model student in this pandemic and very difficult and challenging times. I just appreciate the scholarship. You know, having was able to get into a private school with a scholarship, because I had no idea before that she would be able to go to a private school on the scholarship, you know, at that. So. And I'm proud of her. I'd like to say thank you so much, because without you, I wouldn't be here. Without the people who supported me, I would not be in despair position right now. So I'm very grateful for that, and I've worked so hard and to get here, it means a lot to me. That was an amazing story. So since 2014, Step up has been serving children with certain unique abilities with our Gardner Scholarship. And with that scholarship, parents can pay for tuition at private schools, purchase approved curriculum therapies and other educational tools. This year, we proudly serve about 18,000 Gardner scholars. So let's learn about one of those scholars now. My name is Emma bode. I am 13 years old, and I'm a Gardner Scholar. To me, being a Gardner Scholar, it's really a blessing to be part of such an amazing community of people who are really, really loving and help me have many amazing opportunities. My goodness. The Gardner Scholarship has just. I couldn't be where we are today without it. I really, truly feel, feel that my daughter has succeeded and been able to grow to her full potential because of the scholarship. I noticed things were different about Emma when she was 2. Specifically, I found that there were some learning delays. My husband and I were in the waiting room as they came out to tell us that, yes, Emma does have autism. I think that when I got my diagnosis, I believe that the person who got it told us about the different things we could do with my diagnosis and how I could be more strengthened in the world. We call Emma Amazing Emma here. That is her nickname, because everything is Emma does, she does with full heart and confidence. I honestly believe Emma can achieve anything she puts her mind to. I've seen her join the dance team and come back with medals. I've seen her do the Special Olympics. Between her academic future and her volunteering and just working hard in the other areas of her life, she. She is gonna just shine as a garden square. I've grown in confidence, and I have found so many amazing passions that I'm super proud of that I've got to experience, and I've got to find a bond with that subject. And I'm really excited to see where the world will take me now. My child is amazing and I love her to pieces. She's my best friend and she has her quirky ways that I just love the most. Emma means the world to me and I hope that we are able to remain friends for a lifetime because she's just a special young lady. Since it was created in 2018 by the Florida Legislature, the Hope Scholarship is providing children who are bullied in public schools a refuge by giving them an opportunity to attend either another public school beyond their assigned one or help them attend a participating private school. For many, this scholarship literally saved their lives. Let's hear from one scholar who understands the power of hope and is not only thriving in a new school, but once again feels safe. The HOPE Scholarship has given us the opportunity to have a private education for our son, Nicholas. He was bullied in public school. At my old school, I was bullied. Kids were picking on me and sometimes they would, like, push me to the ground. It was bothering me quite a bit with how I was doing academically because all I kept thinking about is that one corner and I didn't really pay attention to anything else. Once they kind of started physically hurting me, I went to my parents first and after I got picked up from school, I started talking to them about got to the point where he just did not want to go to school, period. One morning, he just physically refused to get out of the. Lisa and I started discussing things and that's when we called the counselor at school to find out that, you know, there was bullying and we really had to pull it out of. Nick finally decided we're going to have to find a new place for him. Nick met a friend at the dentist's office and they exchanged phone numbers and I got to know his mom and she. Her kid. Her child goes to Lake Forest Prep and she's the one who told us about the school and recommended the school. I nominated Nick for the Rising Student award because I have seen a huge transformation from the first day that I met Nick until today. He has developed into a wonderful young man with a past that should have never happened. And he is one of the sweetest, most lovable students that we have at our school. He I like coming here because the teachers and students are very caring. And I feel like the teachers just understand your needs and, like, spend more time one on one with the students learning. Nick is like a different child. He has confidence now. He's doing better in school. His grades are good, he's making friends. He gets up, he gets stressed, he wants to go to school. My only regret is that we didn't find this school sooner. It's just been very positive experience for him all around. The teachers are great, the kids are great. One of the biggest sighs of relief that I've ever had because everybody at this school just feels like you've known them for a couple weeks, but it feels like you've known them for years of your life. It's really nice to see how he's transformed in the last couple of years. The advent of getting the scholarship, it's opened up a lot of opportunities for him that he wouldn't have had otherwise. And we're just very thankful. Wow. That was fantastic. That was a great story. This evening, we've heard about the power of education choice. We've heard stories of perseverance even in these most trying of times times. We've heard about lives changing beyond anything many of our scholars ever dreamt about. And there are thousands and thousands of more stories just like these. And there will be thousands and thousands more as education choice continues to grow, not only in Florida, but nationwide. We look forward to this growth in helping more children write their own success stories. Now let's take a look at more of our scholarship students. You won't see it on the 6 o' clock news it's love waiting in the mail trust you it's getting harder and harder to see through the smoke it's never been easier to overlook it's getting harder and harder and harder to say these days. But when I see the smile run across your face and the sunrise lights up another day I believe I believe I woke up in my whole world change you're the kind of love gives me faith and I believe I, I. You won't find it written in the sky you can't buy to get to it tonight it's getting harder and harder to see what's true. But it's never been easier when I'm with you it's harder and harder and harder to doubt these days when I see the smile cross your face and the sunrise lights up another day I believe I believe I woke up in my world change you're the kind the love gives me faith and I believe I, I believe. It's getting harder and harder see what's true it's never been easier when I'm with you yeah, it's harder and harder and harder to doubt these days. But when I see the smile running across your face and the sunrise lights up another day I believe I Believe I woke up in my horrible change you're the kind of love gives me faith Believe. Hello, my name is Paul Shukri, Chief Financial Officer of Raymond James Financial. I want to congratulate all of you for being honored with the 2021 step up for Students Rising Star Award. You should all be very proud of yourselves, and I know that your family is extremely proud of you as well. You've got a great foundation, so keep up the great work and you'll have a lot of success in the future. Congratulations. Hi, I'm Speaker Chris Sprouse. On behalf of the Florida House of Representatives, I want to say how proud I am of each of our Step up for Students Rising Stars. Every one of you has worked so hard to get where you are today. Great job. I'm rooting for your continued academic success. I'm Curtis Stokes, president of West Coast Advisory Partners and a member of the Governor's Board of Step up for Students. I want to congratulate all the 2021 Rising Star Award winners. You have strived for excellence during a year with great challenges, and for that, you should be very proud. Again, congratulations and best wishes and much success in all that you do. Greetings. I'm Dr. Dre Graham, the 2020 Florida Teacher of the Year and the Executive Director for the Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice at the Florida Department of Education. The Department is excited to partner with Step up for Students as we continue our endeavor to provide an equitable educational experience for all the students in the great state of Florida. I wanted to take a moment to offer a heartfelt congratulations to the Step UP for Students 2021 Rising Stars. Continue to strive to be the best version of yourself and keep reaching for the Stars. Hello and congratulations to all of our students. Step UP for Students 2021 Rising Stars Award winners. I'm Michelle Cavalla with Duke Energy and am a Step up for Students Advisory Board member. Each year we look forward to our Rising Stars Awards and congratulating you in person. While we aren't able to gather this year, we are so delighted to see that you're working just as hard during these challenging times. Congratulations again to all of our award winners. Keep reaching for the stars. Thank you to the children who are working hard for a brighter future. Thank you to their parents who seek out their best learning options. Thank you to the administrators and the teachers who have worked so hard this year in the face of enormous challenges. And thank you to our legislators and our donors, our providers and all of our other supporters who are changing the face of education. So there are more success stories like the ones you've heard about tonight. And congratulations to all our scholars. We are so proud of you. And thank you, everyone, for joining us tonight. Good night, Sa.