The new director of Escambia County Acceleration Academies is a career educator. But that doesn’t mean he’s always been keen on education.

When the Covid pandemic shut his public high school in 2020, Bryce Johnson didn’t spend the long months toiling away at home via a remote learning program. He got a full-time job as a construction worker and focused on supporting his family and establishing his adult life.

When Marrah Murray-Rodriguez arrived at Miami-Dade Acceleration Academies, she didn’t have a laptop computer. She didn’t have a cell phone. And she didn’t have many people in her life cheering her on.

When Lilly Fotheringham got pregnant during her junior year at her old school, she despaired that she wouldn’t have the time to fit her high school studies in with her responsibilities as a new mom. She tried virtual school for a while, but that didn’t work either.

When Joseph Bigot arrived from his native Haiti in 2017, he spoke mostly Creole and had to adjust to a very different education system. But he knew what he wanted, and he wasn’t afraid to do the work needed to get it.

Photos by Martha Asencio Rhine

When Maria Jose Paz’s mother died, she left behind a fervent wish: that her daughter complete her high school education and take the first step toward a better tomorrow.

These days, 2020 Sarasota Acceleration Academies grad Mya Kirce works three jobs: home health aide, brain trauma caregiver and certified nursing assistant trainee at a rehab center. “I’ve always known that I like to help people.”

Franki Mobley-Tarpley started doing leaps and twirls in her family’s living room not long after she was able to walk. And she hasn’t stopped performing since — singing, acting and winning enough dance competitions to join her sister in filling their garage with trophies.