Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater and more than 100 business leaders united on Oct. 26 in Doral to celebrate eight years of corporate support of Step Up For Students, which has made it possible to provide tax credit scholarships to underprivileged students in Florida.

The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program was conceived by state lawmakers who wanted to give low-income parents options for enrolling their children in the best schools while increasing the overall graduation rates in the state.

``The tax credit scholarships are a catalyst for change -- we need to broaden our choices for educational opportunities so we can effectively compete on an international scale,'' Atwater said. ``Step Up For Students scholarships are helping us to diversify our education system to achieve greater results and provide our children and future workforce with a world-class education.''

Since 2002, corporations like US Century Bank have redirected more than $500 million to the Step Up for Students Scholarship Program.

US Century Bank, based in Doral, first joined Step Up For Students in 2008. The corporate donations provide annual private school tuition scholarships of up to $3,950 or transportation scholarships of up to $500 to out-of-district public schools students whose families meet the federal guidelines for free and reduced lunches.

Last year, these companies funded scholarships for nearly 25,000 low-income students in grades K-12 throughout the state, and one of them, Antonio Trigo, was close to failing until he found a new school that turned his education around.

Trigo ended up serving as valedictorian of his eighth-grade class last spring and joined professional leaders at the ``Toast Education'' reception where he thanked business representatives from US Century Bank and other companies for giving him a second chance at success.

``The scholarship program has opened the door for us to provide financial resources that benefit Florida's underprivileged children,'' said Octavio Hernández, president and CEO of US Century Bank. ``We are proud to give back to those families who make our community strong, because our companies couldn't exist without them.''

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