Florida Students Making The Sunshine State Proud

Florida is full of bright, driven young people making a difference in and out of the classroom. That’s why Patch and T-Mobile have teamed up to spotlight students excelling in academics, athletics and community service.

Check out these exceptional Florida students making a big impact. And if you know a student who deserves a shoutout, we want to hear about them! Click here to nominate them for a chance to be featured as a Star Student on Patch!

Mariana Gillen (Tampa): Mariana Gillen, 17, struggled in school from a young age with reading because of dyslexia. Now, the Tampa senior’s biggest passion is assisting other families and students who are struggling with dyslexia. Wanting to help others, she launched a nonprofit organization, MARI Kits, as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project. As a 14-year-old, she started creating toolkits for children with dyslexia in grades kindergarten through third grade. She’s given out hundreds of these kits to students in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, paying for them with money she made from her part-time jobs at Chick-fil-A and a dance studio. These kits include everything from noise-canceling headphones to dry-erase boards and markers to word tiles to highlighting strips, as well as a copy of the book “The Alphabet War,” a story about dyslexia. Read more here.

Raymond Rosa (Orlando): The senior at Jones High School, has been awarded the Kiwanis Club of Orlando Youth of the Year Winner. Raymond first came to the Kiwanis Club after a fire destroyed his home. Through this devastating time of his life, Raymond chose to embrace his love of science and learning. “Education became my refuge, and I embraced learning as a path to building a better future,” Raymond shared with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida. “The order I found in science contrasted sharply with the chaos in my life, giving me a sense of grounding and purpose.” Read more here.

These exceptional students are just a glimpse of the incredible talent in Florida. The future is certainly looking bright! If you know a Star Student making an impact in your community, nominate them today to be featured on Patch!