- February 25, 2025
After celebrating National Literacy Week with Pine Trail Elementary, I feel like I should go back to school.
"It’s hard for them to keep quiet,” she smiled. “So you’ve been warned.”
I sat in Kimberly Schandel’s fifth-grade gifted class, surrounded by students half my size and twice my brain capacity. It was literacy week here at Pine Trail Elementary, and I volunteered some of my time to read to students.
Now, in my mind I imagined reading something like “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” to a class of kindergarten’s who I could easily impress with my pronunciation of nonsense words. Plus, I’ve read “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” so many times, I could recite it in my sleep. It would have been a no-brainer.
But there I sat, in a room with my future potential doctors, governors and scholars who would eventually make me feel uneducated, but not now, right?
I began to read the book “Wonder,” about a boy with a deformed faced who enters school for the first time. In other words, I wasn’t going to impress the kids with jokes reading this one.
About two chapters in, I came across a phrase in Spanish. Ummm? I stalled for just a few moments before a blonde-headed mini Justin Bieber lookalike boy pronounced it for me. But instead of the snobby smirk I’m used to receiving from intelligent children, this one smiled.
We continued on, I would read a few pages before stumbling upon another phrase I wasn’t familiar with and a cute, smarty-pants kid was always ready to help me. Once we were done, I was allowed to ask them a few questions. I came up with one question about the book that stumped them for a few minutes, and earned a “Nice question Emily” from the teacher. Even us 22 year olds appreciate some praise.
I also got a chance to read “Hatchet” to Stephen Waterman’s gifted class of fifth-graders. I have no idea what this book was about, except that there’s a man stranded somewhere near a lake, he’s addicted to fire and he has to eat turtle eggs. Afterwards, one adorable little girl with wide eyes told me how she “LOOOOOOVED ESCARGO.”
Snails? Whatever happened to good old Go-Gurt?
Still, the atmosphere to Literacy Week at Pine Trail Elementary was similar to that of a county fair. Students excitedly brought in bags of books for
the school’s Book Swap on Thursday, and discussed excitedly amongst themselves about who they were going to dress up as on Friday for Book Character Day.
“It’s encouraging reading in all different genres,” Media Specialist Kelly Stotler said. “It’s expanding their mind and imagination at all grade levels. The parents are excited about it as well. I’ve heard from the children how excited they are to give books to each other. Pine Trail is just a really giving school.”
The unnecessary applause and loud “thank yous” I received from the students after my amateur reading was validation of that.
It’s not just for the kids
Twenty-nine percent of adults in Volusia County ages 16 and older can only read below a 9th-grade level. Even more unsettling, only 23 percent of those adults are reading at or below a third-grade level.
Though our county isn’t too far away from the national average, Executive Director for the Volusia Literacy Council Bill Hinebaugh said it’s still an issue in need of attention.
“Their lack of reading ability is preventing them from working,” Hinebaugh said. “If you can’t read, you can’t use a computer. Almost everything we do today has some electronic input. If you can’t read, you can’t work and you end up developing horrible work habits, like leaving a job without notice.”
Founded 35 years ago by a small group of people, the 501c3 charity’s primary mission is to provide educational services to individuals and families through tutoring, reading, writing, math and workplace skills. They want to help people be self-sufficient.
Hinebaugh said most of the people being tutored by the council are high school drop-outs and immigrants.
“They are not illiterate in their own language,” Hinebaugh said. “But learning a new language is equally as challenging when you’re an adult.”
The council needs tutors and volunteers to help teach these adults, and get them off government programs.
“We need help,” Hinebaugh said. “Help to bring attention to the problem. I speak wherever I can get to a podium.”
Visit www.volusialiteracy.org or call 255-8723 for more information.
