Every Student Deserves the Right To Read by Hayden

Every Student Deserves the Right To Read by Hayden - May 2025 Scholarship Essay

9/23/2015 Journal Prompt: What is your favorite time of day?
My favorite time fo day is writing. Becus I can writ eny this I wort to writ. Like anmls, things I love and things I dot love. And I get betr and betr at it evre day and it gets funr and funr. I can do it eny ware like on a log car ride, wen I am bord and on the bus to shcool.

I always loved to write and to put my thoughts on paper but as I got older those thoughts changed,
“Dumb.” “Stupid.” “Behind.”

In fourth grade I was diagnosed with dyslexia but the school didn’t have all of the resources to help me. They put me in Title One, which is designed for students who don’t have access to reading materials or exposure to literacy at home. My parents are both teachers and I loved books. I just couldn’t read them. Then, the school suggested that I be held back at the end of third grade. That would have meant being held back from my friends and classmates. My mom knew that would forever imprint on me that I was “not as smart” as my peers. I was (and am) smart, I just needed to be taught using methods that work for dyslexic learners. My mom found a free program that offered free tutoring from specialists 45 minutes from home. It met twice a week, year round, for two years. I had to sacrifice many events, all for the opportunity to learn. But, in the end went from reading at the 1st% to the 88th%. My journey had begun.

That might have been the end of the story except that one day a few years later I heard my mom yelling from the porch, “Hayden come here right now!”. I ran outside and my mom told me that my essay about my experiences as a dyslexic learner had won the New York Times essay contest. My piece had been chosen out of thousands of entries and it was later included in the Learning Network’s website as an exemplar for writers. This led me to discover a passion for speaking out about dyslexia and being an advocate for students like me.

After my article was published I received an unexpected amount of support and feedback from people from all over the country. This helped me to gain confidence in myself as an advocate because people found support in my words and I felt that what I was doing was making a difference. Over the next several years I have continued to work as an advocate to support kids like me. I speak at conferences and take part in information sessions for teachers, parents and students who are interested in learning more about dyslexia and the value of research based interventions. Of all of the advocacy work I have done, one of my favorite parts has been working with individual children and helping them to understand more about dyslexia and the fact that they are smart and capable and they can be successful, even though it won’t always be easy.

I have been advocating for students like me for the past few years, fighting for schools to implement research based interventions for dyslexic students and for teacher training to support faculty and staff at all levels. When I was very young I wrote letters in support of a bill that requires kindergarten dyslexia screening for all students. The bill passed and now I am pushing to make sure that schools have the support that they need to help students who are identified through the screening.

If I had unlimited funds I would ensure that every student would have access to research based interventions through properly trained teachers and the necessary resources to facilitate the training. In addition I would ensure that all students have access to engaging, enriching books (both print and audible) so that as they learn to read they can stay engaged and further develop their skills.

If I could go back and talk to my third grade self I would tell her that she will be published in The New York Times. I would tell her that she will graduate from high school with an honors diploma. I would tell her that her love of writing has only grown stronger over the years. I would tell her that she is not stupid. She is not dumb. She is strong and her voice and her actions can have a lasting impact on the world around her.