ST. LUCIE COUNTY — The Sept. 2 County Commission meeting opened with a presentation by Florida House Rep. Dana Trabulsy about the Read to Succeed program and its history in the county.
Trabulsy began by taking attendees back to 2021, when she first took office in the Florida Legislature. Among her earliest actions as a representative was sponsoring House Bill 3, known as the New Worlds Reading Initiative.
The initiative is a free literacy program serving children in VPK through fifth grade who are reading below grade level. In collaboration with the University of Florida and Scholastic, it aims to help struggling students improve their reading skills.
As of 2025, participation in the program in St. Lucie County remains relatively low.
“Right now in St. Lucie County, 18,821 students are eligible for the New World Reading Initiative and only 4,630 students are enrolled,” Trabulsy said, noting that just 24% of eligible students are enrolled. “So you can see that we have a big need in St. Lucie County to increase our enrollment.”
In 2023, Scott Van Duzer proposed additional ways to improve literacy rates in the county, an idea that later became the Read to Succeed Initiative.
The program is a collaborative effort between organizations and local businesses. Scholastic donated 10,000 books in its inaugural year, while Big Apple Pizza provided pizza and soda for children and families.
This year, Trabulsy said, Scholastic has once again agreed to supply books for children to build their home libraries.
“They immediately said, ‘absolutely, we are going to be donating 10,000 books again,’” she said.
Beyond supporting literacy skills, Trabulsy said the program is valuable for the way it brings families together.
“This is really about bringing our community together, and bringing their parents out who might not be able to take their kids out for a slice of pizza and some soda one night and enjoying some family time,” she said.
In recognition of Van Duzer’s work, Trabulsy presented him with a tribute from the Florida House acknowledging his dedication to the community and education.
The county also recognized representatives from Scholastic for their contributions. Commission Chair Jamie Fowler cited programs like Read to Succeed as part of the reason the school district earned an “A” rating for the 2024-25 school year.