Scholastic Reading Counts! Success Story: Lakewood High School, Pinellas County, FL

The possibilities for using Scholastic Reading Counts! at your school are endless! Many schools, such as Lakewood High School in Pinellas County, FL, find that combining their reading success with other classrooms help increase reading goals.

Andrea McDougal is a Library Information Specialist for grades 9-12 at Lakewood High School who specializes in keeping her students reading. She enjoys promoting the Scholastic Reading Counts! program because she knows that it works.

“Last year we piloted the program with 9th graders and 68 students took a total of 258 quizzes!” This far surpassed her original goal of fifty students. “This year, we have doubled those totals in the first semester,” McDougal says. “I predict that through increased participation in the program student test scores will improve.”

The great successes at Lakewood High School can be found displayed proudly all over the school. They use their award-winning morning show to feature students with high point totals. Parents are kept informed with online surveys, and “Back-To-School Nights,” where parents can come to school and see the posters and displays on the walls of the classrooms.

Mrs. McDougal has involved every Language Arts and Reading teacher at her school, and they all give extra credit to students who pass a quiz. The principal, Dennis Duda, also lends his full support to the program. Along with awarding students their Scholastic Reading Counts! certificates and medals, he generously donates $175 for end of the year prizes: the third place winner receives $25, the second place winner receives $50, and the first place winner receives a whopping $100.

Other teachers at Lakewood High School have enthusiastic reviews of Scholastic Reading Counts! Lisa Fehling, in a letter to the School Advisory Council (the committee that helps distribute school funding) wrote: “In sixteen years of teaching, I’ve never seen anything motivate students to read like this program. In the last six weeks, I’ve witnessed students who claim to hate reading (and have the FCAT scores to show it) talking excitedly about books, rather than the usual he-said-she-said. I’ve witnessed these same kids pretending to do one assignment in class while secretly reading their books under their desks.” With that testimonial, the School Advisory Council, granted her $3500 to expand Scholastic Reading Counts! with more books and quizzes.

Lakewood High School had already experienced the expected success in their reading class – but, in the true spirit of Scholastic Reading Counts!, the schools’ students continued in their efforts to improve their comprehension skills beyond the world of literature.

Tapping on the enthusiasm of Lita Weingart, a Marine Biology and Environmental Science teacher, students began to ask for SRC! in her curriculum areas. Teaming up with the Ms. McDougal the school’s library media specialist, Lita Weingart incorporated SRC! into her science curriculum. States McDougal, “Lita was looking for ways that she could promote the Reading Counts! program, help narrow the achievement gap, and improve FCAT scores,” said McDougal. “Students in her classes were required to read newspaper or magazine articles as class assignments. They especially enjoyed articles about animals and unusual science related topics. This year, students can read a Reading Counts! book, take a quiz, and get credit for 4 articles. My goal is to find and purchase nonfiction books with quizzes that her students will enjoy reading.” This unlikely joint venture between a reading specialist and a science teacher gave the students even more reasons to keep reading and completing quizzes.

Lakewood High School has implemented to develop fiction and nonfiction reading skills. Through collaboration, this school has demonstrated that the possibilities with Scholastic Reading Counts! are endless!