{"id":293255,"date":"2025-09-05T01:38:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T01:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/293255\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T01:38:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T01:38:50","slug":"royals-step-up-to-the-plate-for-literacy-host-fourth-graders-for-reading-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/293255\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals step up to the plate for literacy, host fourth graders for reading event"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) &#8211; The Kansas City Royals are in the middle of a playoff push, but Thursday, their focus shifted from the scoreboard to the classroom. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The team hosted fourth graders from Scuola Vita Nuova at Kauffman Stadium as part of the Royals Literacy League, an initiative in its third year of improving reading skills across Kansas City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The program, which partners the Royals with nine area schools, kicked off with a field trip that brought learning to the Diamond Club. Students were taught lessons blending baseball and reading, showing how the game\u2019s concepts can connect to literacy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Laura Palacios, program manager for the Royals Literacy League, said the team wanted to give students a unique launch to their school year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWe surveyed parents, and parents told us that their students look at reading as a chore,\u201d Palacios said. \u201cAll of the players have a deep understanding of how important literacy is, and they talk to the students about what they\u2019re reading.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Teachers Susanne Whitt and Ms. Scheneman led Thursday\u2019s session, guiding students through lessons normally held in a classroom \u2013 but made special by the setting inside the stadium.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"The Royals hosted fourth graders from Scuola Vita Nuova at Kauffman Stadium as part of the...\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2AZADHU5D5EGRGJAYRJUK7HLJQ.jfif\" width=\"980\" height=\"735\" \/>The Royals hosted fourth graders from Scuola Vita Nuova at Kauffman Stadium as part of the Royals Literacy League on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025.(KCTV)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cThis is the same lesson we would have done in class, but we did it here in this place where famous people have been, you know, famous Kansas Citians,\u201d Whitt said. \u201cThey just feel so important, and brings them value.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Students were eager to show what they had learned. When asked what literacy means, fourth-grader Ryland Phinney gave a straightforward answer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIt means being able to read.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | text-start article-text\">That understanding is vital in Kansas City, where Missouri data shows only 23 percent of public and charter school students <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kctv5.com\/2025\/08\/18\/absolutely-crisis-kansas-city-educators-alarmed-by-falling-literacy-rates\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.kctv5.com\/2025\/08\/18\/absolutely-crisis-kansas-city-educators-alarmed-by-falling-literacy-rates\/\">read at grade level by third grade.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Classmate Melanii Gonzalez said reading has become a source of joy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cOne thing I like about reading is that it entertains you,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cI\u2019m gonna say my most favorite part is getting time to spend with my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Literacy League pairs each participating classroom with a Royals player who will check in with them throughout the year, offering encouragement and personalized messages. Whitt said those interactions are often a highlight.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"The Royals hosted fourth graders from Scuola Vita Nuova at Kauffman Stadium as part of the...\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/OMPFWJE4GNCMDNIYQUG3EORXJM.jfif\" width=\"980\" height=\"735\" \/>The Royals hosted fourth graders from Scuola Vita Nuova at Kauffman Stadium as part of the Royals Literacy League on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025.(KCTV)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cThe kids will get videos throughout the year with the Royals player. They like that. And when they drop their names in it \u2013 it\u2019s just so fun to watch their reactions,\u201d Whitt said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">For Scuola Vita Nuova, their Literacy League \u201cchampion\u201d is Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. His introduction drew cheers from the students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cHe\u2019s also really cool,\u201d Phinney said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Pasquantino said he\u2019s excited to support the program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWe\u2019re trying to make a difference, and seeing that we\u2019re actually making a difference,\u201d the Royals\u2019 first baseman said. It\u2019s huge just to see these kids growing \u2013 the way that they are \u2013 it\u2019s massive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"copyright |\">Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) &#8211; The Kansas City Royals are in the middle of a playoff push, but&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2387],"tags":[5,44765,936,2123,55,2596,2595,3183,4,44764,252,5920,44766,2126],"class_list":{"0":"post-293255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-royals","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-fourth-graders","10":"tag-kansas","11":"tag-kansas-city","12":"tag-kansas-city-royals","13":"tag-kansascity","14":"tag-kansascityroyals","15":"tag-kauffman-stadium","16":"tag-mlb","17":"tag-reading-event","18":"tag-royals","19":"tag-royals-literacy-league","20":"tag-scuola-vita-nuova","21":"tag-vinnie-pasquantino"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115149142476944865","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}