On this episode, reimaginED senior writer Lisa Buie talks with Tina Riffe, whose daughter, Vivian, 15, attends Grace Christian School in the Tampa Bay area on a Family Empowerment Scholarship for Education Options.
Riffe’s father served in the U.S. Navy. Her husband, Danny, a first-class petty officer, joined the Navy in response to the events of 9/11 and has been stationed overseas at times. She discusses on the podcast how attendance at a private, faith-based school has helped Vivian and also is benefiting her 5-year-old daughter, Hannah, as the family copes with the challenges of military life.
“We wanted something where our girls could be raised in a Christian environment at school and at home … When we found out we were moving … we wanted a place where our daughter could feel safe and that had programs she was interested in … The scholarship program allows me to cut back a little on my hours. It has made it less stressful.”
EPISODE DETAILS:
- Riffe’s experience as a military child and the important role school played in her life
- How Riffe’s husband’s decision to join the Navy affected the family
- How Riffe found the ideal school for her children when the family was stationed in Florida
- How Florida’s new law granting education choice scholarship eligibility to military families has changed her life
- Praise for the program’s design that makes it easier for military families to apply regardless of when they move to a new area
- How the Purple Star campus program will benefit military families
