November is the month of gratitude, and our cup is overflowing!
To our donors, partners, supporters, volunteers, and friends – all 350+ of you! – who joined us last week for our 2025 Peace in the Pages presented by The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida event, thank you for coming to the table!
So much was celebrated, revealed, and recognized during the short time we were all together, and Team READ USA is immensely grateful to every individual who participated in our program—including our wonderful guests in the audience!
Check out some highlights and photos from the event below!
Of course, the highlight for Team READ USA every year at Peace in the Pages is the celebration of our award honorees, who are all highly deserving of the recognition and support they received. You can read more about each of them here:
Peter Racine, Retired President, Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation: READ To Lead Award Honoree
Will Brown, Reporter, WJCT News: Mark Landen Memorial Award for Democracy Through Journalism
Jennifer Beale-Collier, Principal, Anchor Academy Elementary School: Marjorie Broward Memorial Scholarship Award
We look forward to sharing the video of our keynote speaker Dr. David Steiner, Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, who shared national insights about literacy and effective literacy interventions (#SpoilerAlert for those who were unable to attend: READ USA Literacy Tutoring & Workforce Development is in fact a national best practice, successfully producing proven results!). Thank you to Dr. Steiner for coming to Jacksonville to share his decades of wisdom, knowledge, and research with us!
We are also thankful to the esteemed individuals who delivered the announcement about the expansion of the READ JAX grade-level reading initiative: Dr. Christopher Bernier, Isaiah Oliver, and Meredith Chartrand Frisch. Each of them provided a unique perspective on how the initiative evolved to where it is today and what the community can anticipate moving forward—all in all, there is much more to come!
We are also very grateful for the gracious and inspiring remarks delivered by:
- The Honorable Charlotte Joyce, DCPS School Board Chair, District 6;
- The Honorable Kevin Carrico, Jacksonville City Council President, District 4;
- Rabbi Maya Glasser from The Temple Jacksonville, who shared a traditional Jewish blessing for our Invocation; and,
- Keith Russell from Westside Baptist Church, who also shared a prayer for our Invocation.
Of course, Peace in the Pages would not have been possible without the financial and otherwise support of our event sponsors! Thank you to our presenting sponsor, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida; to our events sponsors, Ellen & Jim Wiss, STEM2 Hub, PRI Productions, and Prattify; and to our event partners, Duval County Public Schools and Kids Hope Alliance, for your essential contributions!
Finally, to our wonderful volunteers: you truly help make READ USA shine, not only at Peace in the Pages, but at every event you support! THANK YOU for your unwavering dedication to READ USA, our mission, and our team—we are grateful for you!
As our President & CEO Dr. Rob Kelly shared, “Everyone’s presence helped make this year’s celebration one of our most meaningful yet – a gathering where our community truly came to the table to celebrate the freedom, connection, and hope that literacy provides.”
He continued, “Let’s continue to meet at the table – to listen, to learn, and to act for Jacksonville’s children. Because when we come together for students, literacy becomes the bridge to opportunity for all.”
We can’t wait to share video highlights from the event, so stay tuned!
Until then, THANK YOU again to everyone who came to the table with us at Peace in the Pages!
Join Us as a “Mock” Interviewer!
The date is set for our 2025 READ USA Mock Interview Day, and we hope you will join us!
READ USA is recruiting professionals from a variety of industries to volunteer as interviewers on Saturday, December 6, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. If you enjoy supporting local teens and investing in the next generation entering the workforce, this is the perfect opportunity!
As part of our Workforce Development programming, READ USA hosts a Mock Interview Day to help our teen tutors practice their job interview skills to further prepare them for any career path they choose to pursue.
At the Mock Interview Day, professionals “interview” our teen tutors one-to-one—just like a real job interview—followed by a feedback session where professionals share advice and recommendations. Interviewers are provided with suggested questions and a scoring rubric, and instructions are provided at the beginning of the event. Each volunteer interviews at least two tutors, and lunch will be provided.
READ USA is also seeking sponsors for the event! If you are interested in being a sponsor, email joe@readusainc.com.
Mock Interview Day will take place at The Schultz Center (4019 Boulevard Center Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32207). Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. and the event begins at 9 a.m.
We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, December 6!
Next Week is American Education Week
Today we are bringing you another edition of #FastFact Wednesdays!
Celebrating 100+ Years of American Education Week
First recognized in 1921 by the National Education Association (NEA), American Education Week was founded in response to the fact that 25% of the young men drafted for World War I were unable to read or write (source here).
In its resolution, the NEA called for: “An educational week ... observed in all communities annually for the purpose of informing the public of the accomplishments and needs of the public schools and to secure the cooperation and support of the public in meeting those needs.”
Now in its 104th year, American Education Week—taking place next week: Monday, Nov. 17 through Friday, Nov. 21—celebrates students, educators, and school staff and encourages community support for public education. Each day celebrates a different aspect of education, including Family Day on Tuesday and Education Support Professionals Day on Wednesday.
Read more about American Education Week here and celebrate in your own way next week!
November is Native American Heritage Month
Did you know that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was one of the first groups in America to set aside a day for “First Americans?” That was precisely the case at the turn of the 20th century!
Image Credit: Portrait from photograph by Fred E. Miller taken on the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) Reservation in Montana circa 1898-1910. (Source: National Museum of the American Indian, February 2022)
Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Native American who was the director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, N.Y., persuaded the BSA to adopt such a day, which they did every year from 1912 to 1915. (You can read more about that history here.)
Fast forward to 1990, when President George H. W. Bush officially designated November as National American Indian Heritage Month, which today we refer to as Native American Heritage Month.
Today, many national entities come together to pay tribute to the rich ancestry, traditions, and contributions of Native Americans, including the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Gallery of Art, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
You can read more about Native American Heritage Month and find ways to recognize and celebrate Native Americans here!
We’ll have another edition of #FastFacts Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so stay tuned!
Children’s Book: Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard
Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
Reading Fry Bread during Native American Heritage Month is a powerful reminder of the resilience, diversity, and rich cultural traditions of Native American communities. This beautifully written and illustrated picture book is more than a story about food—it’s a celebration of culture, family, and survival.
Fry bread is used in the book as a symbol of community and resilience. While it may seem like a simple dish, it carries a deep history for Native American families. The book shows how native people took ingredients like flour, lard, and sugar and turned them into something meaningful and enduring.
Each page of Fry Bread explores different aspects of what the food represents: history, family, sound, color, shape, nation, and more. The repetition of the phrase “Fry bread is…” makes it clear that this dish holds a different meaning for each person and tribe, reflecting over 500 federally recognized Native nations in the U.S. alone.
During Native American Heritage Month, Fry Bread is a perfect book to read because it reminds us to listen to perspectives, honor histories, and recognize that Native cultures are not relics of the past—they are living, evolving, and vibrant.
Submitted by Melanie Poag, READ USA Content Assistant
Parent Education Corner: Board Games & Puzzles—Fun Tools for Building Literacy at Home!
Board games and puzzles are more than just fun; they create opportunities for language, thinking, and connection. Make them a regular part of family time and watch your child’s literacy skills grow!
Here’s how:
- Builds Vocabulary
- Children are exposed to new words while reading instructions, cards, or clues.
- Games to try: Scrabble, Boggle, Apples to Apples
- Encourages Reading Practice
- Kids read game rules, cards, and clues—often out loud.
- Builds fluency and confidence without feeling like “schoolwork.”
- Games to try: Clue, Zingo, Guess Who?
- Strengthens Listening & Direction-Following
- Players follow multi-step instructions and listen carefully to others.
- Great for attention and comprehension.
- Games to try: Simon Says, Uno, puzzles with instructions
- Promotes Storytelling & Communication
- Some games invite children to create stories, describe actions, or explain choices.
- Encourages creative thinking and language use.
- Games to try: Rory’s Story Cubes, Tell Tale, Dixit
- Builds Thinking & Problem-Solving Skills
- Games involve planning, predicting, and making connections, which are key for understanding texts.
- Games to try: Word searches, crossword puzzles, logic games
Submitted by Melanie Poag, READ USA Content Assistant