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State representative and partners push Read to Succeed enrollment as St. Lucie lagging
Summary
Florida Rep. Dana Tribulsi presented the New World’s Reading Initiative — 'Read to Succeed' — and called for increased enrollment in St. Lucie County, where about 24.6% of eligible students are signed up, while community partners pledged book donations and local outreach events.
Representative Dana Tribulsi described the New World’s Reading Initiative (branded in the meeting as Read to Succeed / New World’s Reading Initiative) and asked county leaders and community partners to boost local enrollment, saying program participation delivers books and caregiver resources to children judged not on grade-level reading progress.
The program, Tribulsi said, partners the Florida legislature with the University of Florida’s Lassiter Center and Scholastic Books and is funded through tax credits and private support. Parents must sign children up after progress monitoring identifies readers who are underperforming; enrolled students receive nine free books per year, with materials available in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Braille. Tribulsi said participation correlates with increased reading activity by children and caregivers: she cited program metrics including 306,000 students served in 2024 and 4,000,000 books shipped that year, and statewide lifetime totals delivered by the initiative. Tribulsi said in St. Lucie County 18,821 students are eligible and 4,630 are currently enrolled (24.6% enrollment).
Local partners highlighted community events and donations. Scott Van Duzer described a community program called Reach Succeed that pairs book distribution with family reading nights, pizza and activities; Van Duzer said Scholastic donated 10,000 books in the program’s first year and repeated that donation the following year. A Scholastic representative said family engagement and home libraries are central to improving reading outcomes. Adam Fetterman said his firm would run a book drive and match donated books to support the initiative.
The board presented a certificate of recognition to the initiative and invited partners to a photo. No formal board action was required beyond recognition and the presentation.
Ending: The representative and local partners urged additional outreach to parents and schools to raise enrollment in St. Lucie County; program data and donation commitments were supplied in the presentation and recognized by the board.
