Step Up For Students

Meet the Genot kids of Bradenton: Kingston, Kenzington, Aurora, and Kohlton. Each with above-average talent in their respective sports - soccer for the boys, gymnastics for Aurora. Each with demanding schedules - school, training, practice. One Florida ed

EAGLE LAKE, Florida - The tattoo on Elysia Camp's right bicep catches your eye. It's hexagons, lines, letters - a chemical compound, though this one includes four flowers. Those seeing it for the first time offer a guess. Caffeine? Adrenaline? No, but nic

Stella Vallagi is 6, and she loves her French bulldog, Cookie. Her favorite color is orange, and her favorite meal is chicken francese. She loves to color, and paint, and collect shells at the beach. She can dance, too - ballet, jazz, tap. She wears bows

TAMPA - Henry Bravo saw his father around campus every day during the four years he attended Jesuit High School. He'd see him in the maintenance building, where his dad, Hector Sr., worked, or the part of the cafeteria reserved for those employed by the s

Maxwell "Max" Johnson knows something about you. Maybe you know it, too. Maybe not. Either way, Max wants you to know this: You are smart. He's so sure you are that he wrote a book about it. Published last December, "Let Me Help You … BE SMART: A Kid's Gu

Lily Wheeler loves project-based learning, and she loves to draw. She loves phonics lessons that combine the two. Draw a letter and draw an object that matches the letter. One lesson from this past school year stands out to her mother, Erica. Lily, a kind

To me, America is more than just a country. It means freedom, liberty, and honor. That's how Caleb Vergara Scott began the nearly 308-word essay he wrote for a contest celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States. The topic: What does America me

Cameron "Cam" Morgan was 4 when he ran around the living room, touching imaginary bases before stepping on an imaginary home plate. At 5, he could recite baseball statistics, especially those of his favorite players on his favorite team - the Baltimore Or

JACKSONVILLE - Elin Facey graduated from high school in May as an honor student with nearly 100 scholarship offers from colleges and universities from Florida to Alaska. And if that's not impressive enough, there's this: She's 14. There was an audible gas

FORT MYERS - Tabitha Moore tells a story of the time she woke up at 3 a.m. to get a drink of water and was startled to find her daughter, Jaclyn Williams, doing math homework. That's followed by stories of waking in the morning to begin her day and findin