| July 2010 Student Spotlight
Addison Simms
TRINITY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
JACKSONVILLE, FL
As the Step Up For Students Scholarship completes its eighth year in Florida, Addison Simms is a reminder that success doesn't happen overnight. He entered the program the first year it began and leaves as an honors graduate on his way to the University of South Florida.
His academic resume speaks for itself: 3.9 grade point average, National Honor Society, Bright Futures Scholar, six hours college credit through dual enrollment, acceptance at multiple universities.
"Addison has always been a self-starter, and they are just such a welcoming school community," says his mother, Jennifer Simms. "They challenged him, and he liked to be challenged. The teachers took an interest in him, and he took an interest in them."
Addison has attended Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville on scholarship since the fifth grade. He still remembers why his mother, then divorced, decided to switch him from the public school he attended in fourth grade. "I think I must have had five teachers in one year," he says now. "We had teachers leave, and then they kept switching up the classes."
At Trinity, Addison says he found structure and discipline, both of which he came to value. As he made his way to high school, he became absorbed in history and English and political science. He tutored other students in the school. He made lasting relationships and was voted homecoming king. He was also a star soccer player on the academy, but remembers that his mother always kept him focused on academics.
"You come home from a soccer game and you might be tired and want to go to sleep, but you know you have to your homework no matter what," Addison says. "I didn't want to disappoint my mom."
Since he was young, Addison has been attracted to government and political history. He received partial scholarship offers from places like Marquette University and Regis College, but decided to go to USF in part because of the Bright Futures Scholarship. He already knows he wants to major in political science, and his goal is to become involved in policy at the federal level, to help shape political debate and helps others make their voices heard in government.
About Trinity Christian Academy
About 1,550 students in grades K-12 last year attended Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, and 164 of them received the Step Up scholarship. The school, founded in 1967, is on a 160-acre collegiate-style campus and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as well as the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. In addition to a rigorous curriculum, the school boasts a stellar athletics program, and its music program is recognized statewide. The school administers the Stanford Achievement Test to measure its students' progress. Tuition ranges from $3,790 for a full-day kindergarten student to $5,545 for students in grades 7 through 12. Step Up For Students Scholarships are funded by corporations that redirect up to 75 percent of their corporate state income tax liability to a qualified Scholarship Funding Organization in exchange for a dollar-for-dollar tax credit. For more information or to learn how your corporation can participate in the program, visit http://www.stepupforstudents.org/investment_in_children.php, or call 1-800 782-9140 for more information.
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