During the fourth week of January, Florida celebrates Literacy Week to bring awareness to the importance of including literature in daily lives.

Just Read, Florida! was put in motion after 1999-2007 Florida Governer Jeb Bush signed Executive Order 01-260. Reading officially became a core value in the state after the creation of Florida Statute 1001.215, which emphasizes student comprehension of writing by coaching teachers on effective reading instructions and involving parents. Research at the time highlighted the value of language fluency and surplus literature comprehension, becoming the base inspiration of Just Read, Florida!

Four years ago, Literacy Week grew by branching into National News Literacy Week which stops the spread of misinformation. President and CEO of the News Literacy Project (NLP), Charles Salter, commented, “The American public is struggling to make sense of the crush of news and information they are confronted with daily.” NLP is nonpartisan as well as the leading provider of news literacy resources in the nation. The nonprofit education works to “help media consumers understand what makes news trustworthy, and National News Literacy Week will help ensure that more people can confidently navigate the news.”

It is unlikely for OCSA to have a dress down week considering the choices from preceding years. The dress down prompts are derived from the theme of the year such as 2022’s “BLAST OFF INTO NEW WORLDS” and “Dress like an Astronaut” day. While dress down may not be allowed, students at our art school may find creative ways to follow along with this year’s prompts while staying in dress code.