The mission of the Phoenix Foundation of Central Florida is to afford young people the opportunity to recreate themselves while pursuing their educational goals. As knowledge is the key to changing society, the Phoenix Foundation provides funds to enhance and supplement education.
What We Do:
The Foundation was established by Patrick Tubbs, a man with deep roots in Central Florida. He grew up in Brevard County, attended public schools on Merritt Island, and graduated from the University of Central Florida. Patrick believes in the transformative power of education and has seen first-hand how furthering one’s education can dramatically change a person’s life. To that end, he initially established the Phoenix Foundation of Central Florida as a scholarship granting foundation in an effort to reach out and offer a helping hand to students who otherwise may not be able to improve and restart their lives.
To that end, the Phoenix Foundation began in 2012 with the intent of providing student scholarships. Our mission has always been to afford young people the opportunity to recreate themselves while pursuing their educational goals. We know that knowledge is the key to changing society, so we provide funds to enhance and supplement education. We're able to do this through our three different scholarships– Flame, Flight, and Song.
In 2017, our board of directors saw there was a serious funding issue in our public schools, specifically in our music and theatre departments. Due to this need, we decided to expand our foundation and include a new chapter, Morning Glow. This section of our foundation is two fold. We provided approximately $100,000 per year in teacher grants to Brevard Public Schools (BPS) teachers working directly in music and theater disciplines.
In 2022, we parted with BPS and started working with Orange County Public Schools to provide the same grant opportunity to performance art teachers. Morning Glow's mission is to provide much needed funds to supplement the current budget for enhancement to public music, dance, and theatre teachers.
The second purpose of Morning Glow reinstated the BPS Summer Fine Arts Theatre Workshop Program, which was dissolved in 2010 due to lack of funding. Although the need for the program was recognized and advocated for yearly, funds remained unavailable. Morning Glow, in partnership with PBS, offers this summer program to all students entering grades 9-12. Each year we put on two performances, one in the north end of the county and one in the south. The workshop is free to all students and includes transportation.
Who We Are:
Administrator- Carla Smith has been with the Phoenix Foundation since the start. She also has roots in Central Florida, raising her family and putting her children through public school. When you call or email our foundation, she's going to be on the other side. From helping to organize our committees, to answering questions, and administering the scholarships and grants, Carla keeps this train running. She is always available and happy to help.
Social Media- Abigail Laffitte has run our social media for several years now, and like Patrick, she attended school on Merritt Island. Keeping the website up-to-date with information and sharing what the foundation is up to on Facebook and Instagram is her primary job. If you reach out to us through one of those platforms, she's got your answers. She is also taking on a bigger role with scholarship application management.
Scholarship Committee- Our scholarship committee is made up of current and former educators, each with a passion for students with the drive to succeed. They meet multiple times throughout the year to discuss how to reach more students, creating the prompts for each year's applications, and ensuring our review process is fair and reasonable. Once a year this committee reviews scholarship applications and awards students.
Morning Glow Committee- Our Morning Glow committee brings together educators and community members with backgrounds in instrumental music, choral music, and theatre. Twice a year this committee meets to review and award teacher grants to Orange County Public School music, dance, and theatre teachers. They look to establish need, long term impact on students, and quality of requests made.
