Dive Into Reading has its biggest year ever. Help was desperately needed in Manatee

Eight-year-old Ariel Gates wants to be the president when she grows up.

And at Thursday’s Dive Into Reading Program, she and 21 other students learned that anything was possible with hard work. Ariel, an upcoming third-grader, sat inside the Anna Maria Oyster Bar in Ellenton as a woman read from “Mae Among the Stars,” a book inspired by the first Black woman to visit space.

“She kept on trying and trying and never gave up,” Ariel said, sharing her favorite part about the book.

Dive Into Reading, a program started by John and Amanda Horne, the owners of Anna Maria Oyster Bar, has grown exponentially since it began in 2017. Pulling from the restaurant’s loyal customer base, the Hornes gathered reading mentors and welcomed the first group of 78 students to the Ellenton location.

This year, Dive Into Reading is serving about 540 students at six locations — the largest group in program history.

The program is now spread across three Anna Maria Oyster Bar locations, along with the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, and the Gecko’s Grill and Pub on State Road 70.

O’bricks Irish Pub and Martini Bar, 427 12th St. W. in Bradenton, also opened its restaurant to students this year.

“Everybody wants to help kids,” John Horne said. “If we have an educated youth, we have a better community. Everybody realizes that.”

Dive Into Reading students are from Title I schools and most are going into first, second or third grade. The program focuses not only on how to read, but also on how to better understand the material, John Horne said.

And though grade-level reading has always been a struggle in Manatee County, that help was especially important now, after more than a year of schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between 2019 and 2021, the percentage of third-graders who scored “satisfactory” or better on the state’s English language arts test dropped from 51% to 49%. And the average score throughout Florida dropped from 58% to 54%.

That means over half of Manatee County’s third-graders were not reading on grade level.

“I think it’s pretty impressive that we didn’t lose more,” John Horne said, underscoring the rocky pandemic school year. “We just have to work a little harder because the kids need a little extra help.”

Books and burritos

Thursday’s session in Ellenton started with a breakfast for the students and mentors, who chose their own meals from a Dive Into Reading menu.

Ariel enjoyed bacon, fruit and a breakfast burrito as she caught up with mentor Joseph Corlett, a Sarasota resident and business owner.

The program, he said, was about more than reading. It was a chance for students to experience a restaurant — some for the first time — and to learn social skills, confidence and other life lessons.

“It’s just incredibly rewarding to watch them get better at reading, and sometimes it’s just hilarious the things they say,” Corlett said. “They crack you up.”

For the one-on-one sessions that followed breakfast, Ariel picked out a book to read with her mentor. Dive Into Reading students leave with at least one book of their choice after every session.

Ariel’s pick on Thursday was called “Moonwalk: The First Trip to the Moon.” Corlett pointed to each word, sliding his finger across the page as Ariel read the book aloud.

“It was the biggest, most powerful rocket ever,” Ariel said, trailing off before the last word.

“Built,” her mentor followed, helping to finish the sentence.

‘They’ve built this bond’

The same scene played out across Manatee County as Dive Into Reading served hundreds of students at Anna Maria Oyster Bar and partnering restaurants.

After reading with their mentors, students took home a snack bag provided by Feeding Empty Little Tummies. They also took home celebratory bracelets and necklaces from the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

And after their last session, students will take home a backpack full of school supplies, along with a Dive Into Reading T-shirt and a $25 gift card to the Hornes’ restaurants. Families can use the card for a meal and students can eat for free when wearing the shirt.

The entire program was aimed at making reading more fun and exciting, Amanda Horne said, shortly after she took part in the Dive Into Reading “clap out.”

After every session, the adults stand in two rows and face each other, forming a tunnel. The students — many of them smiling and holding a new book to their chest — then walk through the crowd of cheering mentors.

“At the end of it, the mentors and the kids are all crying because they’ve built this bond,” Amanda Horne said.

This story was originally published July 2, 2021 at 5:00 AM.