Improving literacy skills

ReadingPals volunteer Stephanie Stone works with a student at Dunnellon Elementary School. [Photo courtesy United Way of Marion County]

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Posted August 4, 2025 | By Susan Smiley-Height, [email protected]

ReadingPals, a program of United Way of Marion County, has taken on the challenge of improving literacy skills for some Marion County youngsters. Through the program, young students who may need extra help learning to read and with their vocabulary work with volunteer mentors during school times and receive books to help them build a personal library.

The statewide early literacy initiative was created by the Children’s Movement of Florida. United Way of Marion County has served as ReadingPals’ host agency since 2012. ReadingPals will be in 19 Marion County Public Schools kindergarten classes this academic year, serving 200 students.

ReadingPals is built on the pillars of:

• Early literacy: Improving students’ vocabulary
• Mentorship: A consistent relationship between a mentor and student
• Love of reading: Reinforcing a love of reading with high-quality books and engagement activities

Last year, students with ReadingPals mentors improved their reading skills more than their peers, according to program director Jan Hathaway.

“Each program year, ReadingPals provides books to kindergarten children, 5,003 books last year alone. These books include tools to extend the classroom into the home setting. By providing books as part of the child’s toolkit for a good life, kindergarteners will have better literacy foundation,” Hathaway said.

United Way has launched a book campaign to raise $14,000 to cover the cost of the scholastic books for the new school year and also needs more volunteer mentors.

“Nothing is better than seeing the attitudes of our kindergarteners change. One young man stated fiercely that he ‘hated’ reading when I first met him in September. At the end of the year ‘graduation,’ he was one of the children talking to a roomful of parents about how he loved reading. This is the change we’d like to make for each of our youngsters,” said volunteer Cindy Stone.

“We make real connections with the students we mentor. When we’re out because of sickness, they actually worry about us, so I always make sure to let them know if I won’t be there for a scheduled day because of doctor’s appointments, etc.,” she added.

“ReadingPals is important because a child’s brain development is most rapid in the first five years of life, with 90% of brain development occurring before the age of 5. According to the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, in 2023, 45% of Florida students cannot read at a minimally proficient level by the end of third grade. The partnership with Marion County Public Schools and the Children’s Movement significantly impacts reading proficiency based on FAST data. Children learn to read by third grade and read to learn after third grade. These early literacy skills are foundational to a child’s life and economic success,” said Robert Haight, president and CEO of United Way of Marion County.

And, he added, with a changing labor market, the importance of early education cannot be overstated.

“Communities that invest in programs like ReadingPals are investing in the future workforce,” he noted.

To help support the ReadingPals program financially, go to uwmc.org and make a gift for ReadingPals or send a check to United Way of Marion County and note the gift is for ReadingPals.

To volunteer for the program, email Jan Hathaway at [email protected].