{"id":702,"date":"2026-05-19T23:34:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702"},"modified":"2026-05-19T23:34:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:34:04","slug":"surreal-surprise-miami-high-schoolers-blindsided-by-full-rides-to-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<p>MIAMI \u2014 Two students at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami\u2019s Overtown neighborhood were surprised on Tuesday with full four-year college scholarships.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=700\">More than 17,000 under evacuation orders as Southern California wildfire threatens homes<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The announcement was made at their annual senior class awards ceremony, a moment both say they will never forget.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know, it just all feels surreal,\u201d said scholarship winner Yaz\u2019Nique Jean-Francois. <\/p>\n<p>The scholarships are worth up to $30,000 apiece. <\/p>\n<p>Both winners were completely blindsided by the good news. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I heard Yaz\u2019Nique\u2019s name, I was just too excited because my friend won,\u201d said scholarship winner Patricia Smith. \u201cAnd then I heard my name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pair of students were selected from a group of 14 applicants and were selected by the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis Club. <\/p>\n<p>This year, instead of handing out one scholarship, the club decided to award two, thanks to some help from Jimmy Tate, whose father founded the Florida Prepaid College Program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur committee met on Zoom last week, and we went back and forth and back and forth and back and forth,\u201d said Rick Freedman with the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis Club. \u201cAnd then I said, \u2018You know what? I\u2019m just going to pick up the phone, I\u2019m going to call Stanley Tate\u2019s son, Jimmy Tate, and say Jimmy, I got a great idea. Would you be willing to write a check for a second scholarship?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For both students, the road to this moment wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n<p>Jean-Francois pushed forward after a death in her family cause her and her loved ones much anguish. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=698\">US stocks fall further from their records after bond markets crank up the pressure<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy freshman year, I lost my grandmother,\u201d she said. \u201cSo moving forward, I lost my motivation, but I gained it back because I was like I have to do it for her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith also opened up about her family struggles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI lost my grandmother and my uncle just six months apart, and it kind of like took a toll on me,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p>Jean-Francois later video-called with her mother, the single parent she said sacrificed so much to help her succeed. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s been working overtime like all this whole year so this means a lot,\u201d she said. \u201cWell, you don\u2019t have to work overtime no more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Each student is also graduating with a GPA above 4.0 and will become the first in their family to attend college.<\/p>\n<p>Both say they plan to attend Florida International University, where Smith will major in criminology while Jean-Francois wants to study clinical psychology, so they can continue to help others.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=696\">Thunderbirds bring in major firepower ahead of weekend air show<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>Latest headlines from:<\/div>\n<div>\nMiami-Dade<br \/>\nBroward<br \/>\nFlorida Keys<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary><span>Cities<\/span><span>\u25be<\/span><\/summary>\n<div>\n<div>\nMiami<br \/>\nFort Lauderdale<br \/>\nCoral Springs<br \/>\nDavie<br \/>\nDeerfield Beach<br \/>\nDoral<br \/>\nHialeah<br \/>\nHollywood<br \/>\nHomestead<br \/>\nLauderhill<br \/>\nMiami Beach<br \/>\nMiami Gardens<br \/>\nMiramar<br \/>\nPembroke Pines<br \/>\nPlantation<br \/>\nPompano Beach<br \/>\nSunrise<br \/>\nTamarac\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two students at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami\u2019s Overtown neighborhood were surprised on Tuesday with full four-year college scholarships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college - South Florida Moving Guides<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college - South Florida Moving Guides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two students at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami\u2019s Overtown neighborhood were surprised on Tuesday with full four-year college scholarships.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Florida Moving Guides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-19T23:34:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-19T23:34:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702\"},\"wordCount\":500,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2ffcd6ab82df136f8228b33e6203b4bd.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702\",\"name\":\"\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college - South Florida Moving Guides\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2ffcd6ab82df136f8228b33e6203b4bd.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-19T23:34:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2ffcd6ab82df136f8228b33e6203b4bd.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2ffcd6ab82df136f8228b33e6203b4bd.avif\",\"width\":700,\"height\":394},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=702#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"South Florida Moving Guides\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college - South Florida Moving Guides","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college - South Florida Moving Guides","og_description":"Two students at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami\u2019s Overtown neighborhood were surprised on Tuesday with full four-year college scholarships.","og_url":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702","og_site_name":"South Florida Moving Guides","article_published_time":"2026-05-19T23:34:04+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/#\/schema\/person\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e"},"headline":"\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college","datePublished":"2026-05-19T23:34:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702"},"wordCount":500,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2ffcd6ab82df136f8228b33e6203b4bd.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702","url":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702","name":"\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college - South Florida Moving Guides","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2ffcd6ab82df136f8228b33e6203b4bd.avif","datePublished":"2026-05-19T23:34:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/#\/schema\/person\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2ffcd6ab82df136f8228b33e6203b4bd.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2ffcd6ab82df136f8228b33e6203b4bd.avif","width":700,"height":394},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=702#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Surreal\u2019 surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/","name":"South Florida Moving Guides","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/#\/schema\/person\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com"],"url":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}