By Steve Mayer
I have had too many conversations with anxious parents of high school juniors who, with all sincerity and good intentions, ask me how to help their child improve their verbal SAT scores. My response is always a question: “Does your son or daughter like to read?”
With a lower than desired verbal SAT score, the answer to this question is almost always no. Unfortunately, junior year is too late to develop the context for complex vocabulary that is gained from years of listening to and reading an array of texts. It is too late to discover the nuances of clever word usage and grammatical conventions that develop from observing how different authors exercise their voice in printed material. This is the primary reason that the verbal SAT score is largely immovable by the time a student hits his or her junior year.
So, this piece is for parents of younger students because there is time and there is hope. As we head into a season of summer reading and a bit more free time, I want to provide context for why immersing ourselves in print carries lifelong benefits. The lead paragraph of this article made a correlation between the high stakes process of applying to colleges and universities and the fact parents and students are often blindsided by the pressure of performing on standardized tests. Although many parents and students begin to focus on SAT scores at an early age, reading has many more benefits than raising an SAT score—it opens doors of adventure and wonder that may otherwise remain closed.
Have you ever read a book and then watched the movie that goes with it? The book is almost always better because books require us to engage our amazing and limitless imaginations. Several years ago, the Hunger Games series was all the rage among our teens. Adults even got into the craze of reading the trilogy, and then the movies started coming. But as powerful as Rue’s death scene was on the big screen, there is no comparison to the rage, sorrow and raw emotion evoked by the scene written in the words of Suzanne Collins. Printed words add depth and capacity for our own interpretation. They allow us to experience a story and to make new connections to our complex world.
One of my favorite authors is John Grisham. I have read most if not all of his books, many of which have been made into movies. Somehow Grisham’s writing beckons me to become lost in a world where the human struggle is conveyed in the most colorful of terms. His rich description of characters, his riveting characterization of the underdog and his commitment to social justice capture me every time. As I enjoy the stories I also experience new insights into the world and even into my own role in creating an educational environment which provides equal access and opportunity for all of our students.
Our summer reading lists come out soon. It is our sincere hope that all of our students make the time to get lost in a few good books during the summer months. Our lists are long and have an array of genre and authors which will allow students (and even parents) to find a tale that satisfies. In a world that runs at a feverish clip where thoughts are too often pared down to 140 characters, it is imperative that we encourage our children to slow down. It is equally important that we teach them that the transformational, thought provoking, vocabulary-developing, life changing slow pace of a good book is a good prescription for learning and growing.
It is always a good time to get lost in a good book.
Steve Mayer is the superintendent of Robbinsville schools.
