At the 2025 Peace in the Pages Presented by The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida event this Friday, we will celebrate WJCT Reporter Will Brown as the 2025 Mark Landen Memorial Award for Democracy through Journalism Honoree!

Will was publicly nominated for this honor, indicating how deeply his work as a reporter and photographer has informed and inspired residents across Northeast Florida and beyond. For this reason, READ USA is pleased to celebrate how he exemplifies Mark Landen’s commitment to advancing an informed society and strengthening our democracy through journalism.

The fall season is flying by, and Peace in the Pages is already here! We are thrilled to welcome our honored guests, donors, partners, and supporters to The Schultz Center this Friday!

At WJCT Public Media, which he has called “home” for a few years, Will’s reporting focuses on race, poverty, and structural inequality for WJCT’s digital arm, Jacksonville Today.

He began at WJCT as a Report for America corps member, covering pivotal stories such as the impact of congressional redistricting on Black voters, the Grand Park mass shooting, and the lasting effects of redlining in Jacksonville. Previously, he reported for the Jacksonville Business Journal, where he chronicled CSX’s largest acquisition in decades, and for the St. Augustine Record, where he expanded coverage of women’s sports and honored the class of 2020 despite pandemic disruptions.

 
Photos show Will’s journalistic work and photography.

“Will has an innate talent for peeling back the layers and telling stories that otherwise would have gone untold,” shared our President & CEO Dr. Rob Kelly. “Along with many other members of the media, Will is passionate about education and literacy and ensuring that the voices of students, not just adults, are heard across the community.”

Earlier in his career, Will worked as a sports reporter for the Victoria Advocate and a business reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat during the Great Recession. A highlight of his career was documenting his 2010 trip to South Africa for the men’s World Cup for the Democrat, which was inspired by his reading of Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom.

  Photos show Will’s journalistic work and photography.

A devoted husband, father, and dog dad, Will is also a Florida native and proud third-generation Florida A&M Rattler, and he holds a master’s degree from the University of South Florida. His parents were avid readers and news consumers; their example spurred Will into serving as a journalist in Texas and Florida for nearly 20 years.

If you would like to read some of Will’s recent work, click here.

Congratulations to Will Brown for being selected as the 2025 Mark Landen Memorial Award for Democracy through Journalism Honoree! Team READ USA is excited to celebrate you on Friday!

Ever Heard of a “Smash Mat?” Thank You, Pickle Juice & Patty Cakes! 

Last week, Heather Marie, author of The Adventures of Pickle Juice and Patty Cakes, visited our Literacy Tutoring and aftercare programming at Smart Pope Livingston Elementary—and it was out of this world!

Alongside cardboard cutouts of Pickle Juice & Patty Cakes, two French bulldogs, Heather read aloud from Pickle Juice & Patty Cakes’ Space Adventure and led a fun, hands-on activity with “smash mats” and playdough. The activity let students get creative while exploring the story in more detail, and each student received their own signed copy of the book—plus they got to keep the playdough and mats!

Curious about smash mats? Well, a smash mat is a printable mat used in speech therapy and early education to engage children in learning and practicing skills through interactive play. Children use a manipulative, like playdough, to “smash” over a picture on the mat as they practice target skills like speech sounds or vocabulary.

Sounds kinda fun, right? Well, the students at S.P. Livingston sure thought so, too!

Thank you to Heather Marie for showing that reading can be a fun adventure for everyone, and for gifting her books to our amazing students!

It’s Career and Literacy Month!    

This week’s edition of #FastFact Wednesdays makes it seem like READ USA’s mission was written in the stars before we even existed (which we actually believe, too!).

Not only is it November National Career Development Month, it’s also National Family Literacy Month!

What is National Career Development Month?

Founded in 1967 by the National Career Development Association (NCDA), this annual observation in November is intended to “encourage students and employees to focus on their career paths, skill development, and future opportunities.”

Now, if that doesn’t sound like READ USA’s Workforce Development & Literacy Tutoring programming, we’re not sure what does!

Additionally, the NCDA encourages people to focus on their career development at all stages of life and build confidence in their future.

And speaking of career development, READ USA will host our 2025 Tutor Mock Interviews event on Saturday, Dec. 6 from 9am-1pm—you can read more and sign up HERE! More details to come soon!

To read more about the NCDA and National Career Development Month, including the NCDA’s annual Poetry & Art contest, click here.

The Importance of Reading Together: Family Literacy Month

“Back in 1994, the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) worked with Congress to designate November 1 as National Family Literacy Day^®. Each year for the past 25 years, we have joined libraries, schools, and educational programs across the country to celebrate National Family Literacy Month throughout each November.”

National Family Literacy Month is the perfect time to re-engage your family, particularly the younger members, in reading and discussing books together. And what better way to engage in reading and books together than with a visit to the Jacksonville Public Library or your local bookstore!

In fact, there are many other educational activities and fun to be had at the Library, and you can find out more by reading further in our newsletter below!

Of course, National Family Literacy Month is also a wonderful time to enjoy READ USA’s online read-alouds on our YouTube channel HERE.

We’ll have more #FastFacts to share later this month, so stay tuned—although we’re not sure we’ll ever see a better combination of Career & Literacy awareness together until November rolls around again next year!

Children’s Book: America’s White Table by Margot Theis Raven

Illustrated by Mike Benny

As we prepare to honor Veterans Day next week, it’s the perfect opportunity to read a beautiful and meaningful book, America’s White Table by Margot Theis Raven.

America’s White Table is more than a book; it’s a tribute. Through the eyes of a young girl named Katie, we learn about the symbolic “White Table” set in military mess halls across the country: an empty place setting that honors soldiers who are missing in action or held as prisoners of war. It’s a quiet but powerful reminder of the sacrifices made for our freedoms, and it sparks meaningful conversations about honor, gratitude, and remembrance.

America’s White Table takes something abstract—courage, service, loss—and makes it real. The book invites young readers to feel empathy, ask questions, and begin to understand what it means to serve and sacrifice for something greater than oneself.

For Veterans Day this year, America’s White Table can help initiate a family conversation—one that bridges generations and strengthens our shared values. It’s a story that stays with you, long after the last page.

Submitted by Melanie Poag, READ USA Content Assistant