PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Students in Pinellas County put their knowledge to the test in a friendly book battle competition, but at the heart of it all was an effort to increase boys’ interest in reading.
The competition kept teams on their toes to get the right answers and test their understanding of certain books.
“I’m actually dyslexic, so the whole reason why I joined was to try to get myself just to force myself to start reading, and now I really do enjoy it," said Andrew Bahringer, a 10th-grade student at Palm Harbor University High School.
Jual Weaver, Andrew, and Steven Lytle are students at Dunedin and Palm Harbor University high schools. They joined forces Friday for the Guys Read Book Battle.
“It was a good wakeup call that as long as there are the right books available, there’s definitely an audience for them, even in me," said Lytle, a 12th-grade student at Dunedin High School.
Back in 2022, ABC Action News brought you the story of the Boys Read Book Battlefor 3rd through 5th graders, part of a program aimed at getting male students engaged in reading.
“There tends to be a gender literacy gap, so girls tend to perform better on literacy tests, English language arts than boys," said Ellen Truskowski, the Director of Student Demographics Assignment and School Capacity with Pinellas County Schools. "The Pinellas Education Foundation started a committee called Closing the Gap, which really focused on narrowing or closing gender achievement gaps.”
Pinellas County school leaders said that the program was so successful that it was started in high school as well.
“Last year alone in the 2021-2022 school year, we had an eight percent gap in 3rd grade with our girls outscoring our boys," said Truskowski. "We were able to narrow it in half last year.”
This year, Safety Harbor Elementary won the Boys Read Book Battle, and for the high schoolers, it was the combined team from Dunedin and Palm Harbor University high schools that came out on top.
“I would like to read more, and I think this is a good start," said Weaver, a 12th-grade student at Dunedin High School.
