It’s AmeriCorps Week, and Team READ USA is celebrating our incredible AmeriCorps Tutor and Team Leaders who serve in elementary schools across Duval County!

This year’s theme, AmeriCorps in Action: Americans Serving America, perfectly reflects the commitment of our AmeriCorps Tutor and Team Leaders to the elementary students they serve through READ USA Literacy Tutoring.

As AmeriCorps Tutor and Team Leaders, our teens are making a direct investment in the next generation of our country’s leaders by elevating elementary students to grade-level reading proficiency. Through this experience, they also gain valuable, transferable skills that strengthen their ability to contribute to American society, the economy, and the workforce.

And you can support them this week by voting for their photo! (Read more below.)

Here are some fun and interesting facts about AmeriCorps and our service members:

Our AmeriCorps Tutor Leaders provide daily, one-to-one literacy lessons after school to elementary students who are below grade-level reading proficiency.

Similarly, our AmeriCorps Team Leaders serve in those same schools, but with a full-time schedule: During the school day, they gather small groups of students for literacy lessons. When the school day ends, they join their fellow AmeriCorps Tutor Leaders to provide after-school tutoring.  

Our AmeriCorps Team Leader providing small-group literacy tutoring at Long Branch Elementary. 

However—by their own volition—our AmeriCorps members’ service doesn’t stop there: they also volunteer on their own time at these elementary schools! (Stay tuned, because we’ll be sharing more about that very soon!)

Here are some other #FastFacts about AmeriCorps service:

• In 2025, our AmeriCorps members logged more than 7,680 service hours!
• Nationally, AmeriCorps members have logged more than 1.9 billion hours of service since 1994. To put that into perspective, 1 billion hours is about 114,000 years, meaning AmeriCorps members have provided 216,757 years’ worth of service since that time! (For additional perspective, the dinosaurs roamed the Earth about 66-252 million years ago.)
• AmeriCorps calculates that there is a $17 return for every $1 invested into AmeriCorps.
• There are 30,000 AmeriCorps service locations across America, and READ USA is the largest AmeriCorps service program in Northeast Florida, putting more AmeriCorps service member “boots on the ground” than any other local grantee!
• AmeriCorps requires grantees to provide a matching share of program costs, which we are able to accomplish thanks to our amazing READ USA donors and supporters!

Team READ USA is grateful to be an AmeriCorps grantee and directly invest these valuable federal resources into our local community! Even more importantly, we are grateful for our AmeriCorps Tutor and Team Leaders for their daily service to our country and community.

Show our AmeriCorps members some love on Facebook and VOTE for our team’s photo HERE! To vote, all you have to do is “like” or react to our team photo on Facebook.

Do you have an interesting story to share with us about our AmeriCorps Tutor or Team Leaders? Email joe@readusainc.com if so!

DCPS School Board Chair Visits our Team at Jacksonville Heights   

We were thrilled to welcome Duval County Public Schools Board Chair Charlotte Joyce to READ USA Literacy Tutoring at Jacksonville Heights Elementary School last week!

Mrs. Joyce, who represents District 6, took the time to meet with our READ USA teachers and AmeriCorps Tutor Leaders, who provide literacy tutoring to students who are below grade-level reading proficiency at Jacksonville Heights Elementary. She had the opportunity to witness READ USA’s impact in action and hear directly from our teens about why they love what they do at READ USA.

Mrs. Joyce was also pleased to hear that nearly all of our teens who serve at Jacksonville Heights attend DCPS high schools right there in her district!

The intersection of literacy and workforce development, which is the hallmark of READ USA programming, is deeply personal to Mrs. Joyce.

In July of last year, Mrs. Joyce shared publicly from the dais a powerful personal story about why she became a teacher and later ran for the school board. Our President & CEO Dr. Rob Kelly authored a piece for our newsletter that reflected upon Mrs. Joyce’s story, which you can read HERE. Following is a snapshot of that story:

Around 1967, Charles [Mrs. Joyce’s father] started working as a machine tender at U.S. Gypsum Company and continued there for 35 years until his retirement. During his time at U.S. Gypsum Company, Charles was recognized for his honesty, reliability, and hard work. Other than being hospitalized, he never called out or missed work.

It wasn’t long before Charles was offered a promotion to supervisor – a position he desired but declined. Why? He could not read. Charles knew that, as a supervisor, he would be required to read documents and time sheets and write reports, but he was not taught to read or write proficiently in school. Illiteracy prevented Charles from accepting a well-deserved, higher-paying job at a company he loved.

This is one of the driving forces within Chairman Charlotte Joyce. When she became a teacher, she saw many students – just like her father Charles – who could not read or write proficiently…

“Mrs. Joyce’s personal reasons for pursuing her career path resonate so strongly with me and so many others,” shared Dr. Kelly. “Every teacher has their ‘why’ for becoming an educator, and I am very grateful for her sharing her ‘why’ so publicly. At its core, literacy is deeply personal, affecting all aspects of our lives, for better or for worse. Mrs. Joyce’s father’s story reflects the importance of our mission at READ USA, and I am grateful to her for taking the time she did with our team last week.”

Thank you, Mrs. Joyce, for meeting our wonderful teens last week and for your support of Team READ USA!

Jacksonville Jaguars Give Free Books to Students at Woodland Acres      

The students at Woodland Acres Elementary School received a wonderful surprise last week!

The Jacksonville Jaguars hosted a Literacy Locker Room to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday, and every Woodland Acres student went home with two free books, plus a Jaguars swag bag and fun goodies like bookmarks to enjoy during their reading adventures.

Jaguars Legend Aaron Beasley joined the fun, reading with students and sharing an inspiring message about the importance of literacy. Of course, members of the ROAR of the Jaguars and Jaxson de Ville added even more energy and excitement to the day!

Team READ USA extends a huge thank you to the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation for helping make this another unforgettable Literacy Locker Room event! Our gratitude also goes to Adriel Rocha, Vice President of Community Impact and Football Development, and Michael Carnahan, Jaguars Foundation Community Impact Senior Manager, who created these wonderful events that connect literacy, sports, and FUN!

Congratulations to the One Day Breakfast Honorees!

Last week, members of our team and Board of Directors were thrilled to celebrate Teach For America Jacksonville’s One Day Breakfast Award Honorees!

Hosted every year by Teach For America (TFA) Jacksonville, the One Day Breakfast is named as such in recognition of TFA’s vision that “one day all children will have access to an excellent education.” The event brings together civic and business leaders from across Northeast Florida to honor individuals whose leadership and service are advancing TFA’s vision.

This year, the event also featured a thought-provoking panel discussion that explored the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in education. Following the panel discussion, everyone in the room engaged in “table talks” to discuss the intersection of AI and education, ethical considerations, and related topics.

Team READ USA congratulates all of the exceptional individuals who were honored last week! Our particular congratulations go to Darnell Smith—the One Day Award Honoree—and to Gary and Nancy Chartrand—recipients of the Steven T. Halverson Lasting Legacy Award—who are all ardent supporters of students, teens, and teachers through READ USA and numerous other organizations in so many ways. We are grateful for all you do to help our community thrive!

We also extend a special congratulations to Jovana Williams, Principal of Biltmore Elementary School and a Pursuing 2030 Award Honoree (pictured below with members of our team). Our AmeriCorps Tutor Leaders serve at Biltmore in READ USA Literacy Tutoring, and Jovana is a tremendous advocate and supporter of our program, our teens, and every student and teacher who walks through Biltmore’s doors every day. This honor is so well deserved!

Congratulations to TFA Jacksonville and its wonderful team for hosting another fantastic, high-energy One Day Breakfast event this year! We are grateful for our partnership with TFA Jacksonville (you can read more about that HERE!), and we were thankful to attend and support this wonderful event.

We look forward to next year and to our continued partnership!

Meet Our Teachers at Hyde Park Elementary  

This week, we are shining the READ USA spotlight on our wonderful teachers at Hyde Park Elementary School!

Our teachers play a vital role in READ USA’s impact, from supervising and providing in-the-moment support to our teen tutors and AmeriCorps Tutor Leaders to ensuring that our programming is delivered with fidelity, data and reporting are accurate, and that everything runs smoothly and efficiently!

Meet our Teachers at Hyde Park Elementary below and read why they love the work they do at READ USA—and you can show them some love on social media HERE!

To better understand the unique role that each of our teacher’s play in our programming, read below:

Teachers of Content are responsible for all literacy content needs of READ USA Literacy Tutoring, ensuring seamless delivery of literacy content needs at each school site. Specifically, Teachers of Content coach and annotate tutor next steps and observations, model lesson parts, and provide tutor professional development. Importantly, they also audit and monitor student literacy growth and oversee student assessments, among other responsibilities.

Teachers of Organization oversee all operational needs of READ USA Literacy Tutoring. This essential role ensures smooth and efficient program delivery, from managing communications with schools, parents, and READ USA staff to collecting and entering weekly student data. Teachers of Organization also handle student discipline, transportation support, and provide oversight of the READ USA aftercare program.

Aftercare Teachers monitor and provide guidance to elementary students awaiting their Literacy Tutoring sessions each day. They are also responsible for student attendance, supper, and snack tracking, and deliver supplemental literacy programming, such as read-alouds and other literacy-focused activities.

THANK YOU to our incredible teachers at Hyde Park Elementary for all you do for our students and teens!

Children's Book: The Night Before St. Patrick's Day by Natasha Wing 

Illustrated by Amy Wummer

In Natasha Wing’s The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day, two children set traps to catch a leprechaun. When they wake up to find they are successful, they embark on a journey to find his pot of gold!

Amidst the smell of green eggs and the sound of bagpipes, they must achieve their task before the day’s end. Will they be able to? With sweet and surprising illustrations, this lyrical story will have you singing your way through The Ides of March and remembering to wear green and avoid the pinch!

It’s a perfect, fun book to read with St. Patrick’s Day coming up next week!