When you look at the data, it is clear that more of us need to get involved in helping our young children learn to read. Florida student achievement data reflect the national picture that shows almost half of students in the United States are having serious reading difficulties. Bush says that the inability to read proficiently remains the most compelling reason why children in Florida struggle through their school years.
From my perspective as a magazine publisher, it is troubling news, and here at Florida Trend we are committed to doing more to help.
Through Florida Trend's NEXT, our annual magazine for high school students, we are partnering with the governor's Mentoring Initiative, the Florida Department of Education and Universal Orlando? to train a group of 30 very special teens from around the state to serve as Teen Trendsetter Reading Mentors. These teens will be trained by the Department of Education in leadership, reading and mentoring techniques they can take back to their schools and use to train other students. The training will take place at a day-long summit at Universal Orlando in late July. To become a Teen Trendsetter Reading Mentor, students can apply online at www.floridanext.com.
I agree with Gov. Bush when he says that "we can make an enormous difference in a child's success in school by helping them learn the fundamentals of reading the right way." And by allowing high school students the opportunity to participate in this important program, we help them learn the value of volunteering in a world where it's all too easy to stand back and do nothing.
If you would like some ideas for how your business can get involved in a hands-on way to support reading in Florida's schools, get a copy of the "Business Challenge Guide" now available at www.flmentoring.org.
Moving on to other topics, over the past month I've received several e-mails and phone calls commenting on Florida Trend's Great Florida Restaurant Guide,? our newest publication that was included with your March issue of Florida Trend. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and as always, we appreciate hearing from you. I wanted to take this opportunity to answer some questions about how restaurants were selected for listing in the guide.
The first section contains Florida Trend Restaurant Editor Robert Tolf's reviews of the Golden Spoon® winners, the new Golden Spoon Hall of Fame, the 20 best new restaurants and the 250 top restaurants for 2002. Page 45 begins a regional directory that includes all of the above winners plus "master" member restaurants of the Florida Restaurant Association. Restaurants that are not members of the FRA are not listed.
The FRA member listings provide information on cuisine, attire, average check, reservation policy and credit cards accepted -- they are not reviews or recommendations. So, while the regional directory may or may not include your favorite local restaurant, it does include the FRA membership's wide range of fine dining, family and, yes, even fast food restaurants in cities and towns all across the state.
As our partner in publishing The Great Florida Restaurant Guide, the FRA provided the list of restaurants for the regional directory. We regret any errors in those listings. Corrections should be sent to the FRA at 230 S. Adams St., Tallahassee, FL 32301; (888) 372-9119 toll-free; fax (850) 224-9213.