PCHS Bulletin – Lexi Brielmann and Aliza Vitoritt
Date Published – February 18, 2026
Parrish Community teachers and students celebrated literacy week from January 26- January 30 with many fun activities to help promote reading.
The theme of literacy week this year was “250 Chapters of America” to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States. The daily themes were as follows:
Monday: Cozy Up with a Good Read. The theme was sweatpants and sweatshirt/hoodie to encourage students to get comfortable and read in their classes.
Tuesday: The Next Chapter. The theme was college or career shirts to focus on student voices and their future.
Wednesday: America’s Firsts. The theme was to wear red and to focus on beginnings, origins, and first chapters.
Thursday: Voices that Shaped America. The theme was to wear white and to focus on influential voices, speeches, and perspectives.
Friday: Snapshots of America. The theme was to wear red, white, and blue and to focus on American culture including past times, places, and people.
“What we asked the teachers to implement with their classes was to use our daily themes to incorporate into class lessons for the week,” said Media Specialist Mercedes Wildman.
Literacy week is not just for English classes; in fact, many other subjects did literacy related activities throughout the week.
JROTC arranged field trips to local elementary schools in Parrish Charter Academy, Harvey, Virgil Mills, and Williams to read books to the students. This is part of an ongoing service project that the cadets are participating in throughout the year. They aimed to work on clarity while reading, while also promoting reading to younger students.
Sophomore Rachel Panizzo was one of the many cadets that participated in the elementary school visits, stating, “I read to elementary level students which was fun since we were reading A Christmas Carol.”
Science students also participated in activities throughout the week to be involved in literacy while also learning about their science subjects. Chemistry students read about different reactions, and forensics students analyzed quotes from scientists who contributed to American forensics.
Marine science students read Jaws throughout the week to celebrate literacy, with teacher Savanna Finley saying in an Instagram post, “Literacy week dress up day means becoming the character that made me want to be a marine biologist!” Finley dressed as Matt Hooper from Jaws, and thanked Richard Dreyfuss for “bringing this iconic character to my life in such a meaningful way.”
The book club was also involved in events throughout the week to celebrate literacy. Wildman, who oversees the club, stated, “We do literacy week in Florida across the state so that week every school across the district and Florida is doing literacy week at the same time. So what they do is pick a theme for the year and have us figure out how we’re going to work literacy into it."
Additionally, the week saw a door decorating contest and a book raffle held in the media center to give away classic novels.