INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The “Moonshot Rocket” has become a symbol of literacy and success for students, parents, teachers, and the entire community of Indian River County over the course of the last four years.
As part of “World Book Day,” hundreds of people physically claimed a spot as part of that symbol, standing in a giant outline of a rocket ship on the Vero Beach High School Citrus Bowl Stadium on Wednesday, each holding a book. The event is supposed to have rallied the most readers in one spot ever in Indian River County, and possibly in the country.
Crowds stood and waved as the Indian River County Sheriff’s helicopter flew overhead and captured the record breaking moment in an aerial photograph.
The event was sponsored by the Learning Alliance, a non-profit organization comprised of parents, teachers, and community members who are dedicated and consistently making huge strides toward improving literacy levels in the county.
The ultimate “moonshot moment” the organization has been reaching for is to surpass 90 percent literacy by third grade among Indian River County youth.
“We want to make Indian River County the literacy capital of the United States,” said Jennifer Croom, facilitator of the Moonshot Moment Community Steering Committee.
Croom pointed out that the literacy statistics are staggering, and often take unknowing people in the community by surprise.
“If a kid starts behind in reading, only on in seven ever catch up,” Croom said.
According to official literature distributed by the Learning Alliance, “Children should ‘learn to read’ by third grade, in order to ‘read to learn’ thereafter.” The brochure goes on to say 40 percent of children do not enter Kindergarten prepared. Of those who aren’t proficient by 3rd grade, only one in seven will learn to read thereafter.
“Reading is not an obligation or a luxury, it is a survival skill,” said special guest and author, Carl Hiaasen. “Read every book you can get your hands on. That’s what would be my advice.”
Many of the students present were happy and proud to accept the reading challenge.
Jourdan Raymond, a 12 year old student did not hesitate to say his favorite books were the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan.
“It has Greek mythology in it and I like learning, and I like learning about things that happen in the past,” Raymond said. When asked if he thought reading was important, Raymond laughed and said he could not imagine a world without reading.
Raymond was in attendance with his parents and his younger sister, Amanda Raymond. Amanda said even though she was not as thrilled about reading, she knew it was important. The cool factor of the helicopter photo and the added bonus of having Hiassen sign her book was enough to get her excited about World Book Day.
Andrew Ern, a 7-year-old student at Rosewood Elementary took up his post in the rocket ship holding a pile of new books.
“I’m reading a lot of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” said Ern. He pulled books out of his pile one by one and explained his interest in each. Displaying one book on the Civil War Ern said, “We were learning about the Civil War in school, so I wanted to read about it.”
Ern’s mother, Natalie Ern, was a supporter on Wednesday both as a parent and as a Special Education Teacher from Rosewood Elementary.
“I think it’s important to bring the community together like this and to put the focus on literacy,” Natalie Ern said. Speaking about reaching the 90 percent literacy goal, she said, “We’re almost there, we’re getting so close. It’s so exciting to see the whole community really rally around this cause.”
According to anyone who would speak on behalf of the Learning Alliance or its supporters on Wednesday, “community” is a major pillar in this push to bring about literacy.
“Schools can’t do it alone,” Croom said. “We want every parent, every teacher, every business owner, every family member, every coach to be a part of this.”
Croom said entire teams have been dedicated to preparing pre-kindergarten students to learn to read, summer and after school programs have been launched, chronic absenteeism has been addressed, and much more.
“We’re really attacking this from all angles,” Croom said.
For more information on the Learning Alliance and the moonshot moment, visit www.thelearningalliance.org.