This article was a winner of Lookout’s 2026 Journalism Scholarship Challenge, which invited high school students to highlight an unsung hero in their lives. Learn more and find all of the winners here.
A surprising number of U.S. high school students are struggling with reading. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data from 2024 shows about one-third ( 32%) of 12th graders scoring below the “basic” level, the lowest in decades. This means that they can’t find details in the text to understand the meaning. Reacher thinks this is because of pandemic learning loss, screen time and a deficit of foundational reading skills. Jessica Hoffschneider, an academic support teacher in Soquel High School, saw these problems and took action for her students who are struggling.
Jessica Hoffschneider has taught at Soquel High for 10 years. She became an academic support teacher in 2010. Her biggest passion is teaching a reading intervention class for students who are several years behind in their basic reading skills. This idea for the class came to her after a friend shared a podcast called “Sold a Story.” It was about how schools had been sold a reading curriculum that wasn’t working for many students, but continued to use it because it was one of the most popular curricula in the country. Something clicked in her and she realized she could start a reading intervention class for students who were far behind in reading. Most high schools don’t have specific intervention classes that focus on basic reading.
Teaching credential programs for teaching high school do not offer instruction on how to teach students how to read. It’s just not part of the curriculum. Ms. Hoff’s first big challenge was getting the class off the ground. She realized she didn’t know how to teach reading. So she started reading books, listening to podcasts and watching webinars. She also joined Facebook groups and asked questions about how to approach a reading intervention class. She started making connections in the world of teaching literature. A couple months ago, Ms. Hoff purchased the book “Teaching Words and How They Work: by Elfrieda Hiebert, an educational researcher. She took a chance and sent the author an email to ask some questions about how to support her students, and Hiebert has become an invaluable resource and mentor. Hiebert has been collaborating with Ms. Hoff and helping her out. ” “She has generously given her time, resources and expertise to support my students and me. My students are currently reading through the texts she has written on her website, textproject.org, which is a free resource for teachers to support students in building vocabulary and reading fluency skills,” said Ms. Hoff
According to Ms. E, an aide in Ms. Hoff’s class, “Hoff showed me the reading students’ test results mid-year and teared up about how much these students improved in just one semester of direct reading instruction.” Ms. E added, “I realized in that moment that she truly has a larger mission in creating this class. She’s changing the trajectory of these students’ lives. She’s giving them the tool of reading which will help them get better jobs and succeed in their life.” It is obvious to many that Ms. Hoff is genuinely inspired and puts in the time for her class to be authentically useful for students.
Jessica Hoffschneider is impacting students in a positive way. She is preparing students for the real world. She is working hard to give students an advantage that they did not have but needed. They are given the support to close the gaps in their reading skills to help them be successful in their careers. How can you help? Ms. Hoff could use the support of the community to get research about reading, and donations of books for her students to read. Contact Soquel High School to donate!
Quiminiani Mariano Melchor is a student at Soquel High School