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A 'Poor Readers' Survival Strategy

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By GEOFF FOX

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 2, 2008

DADE CITY - DADE CITY - In the 1960s, Mike Rom was a standout fullback at Edgewater High School in Orlando. Unfortunately, he could break tackles and score touchdowns better than he could read sentences.

Now 61, Rom is the director of the Academy at the Farm charter school and has a doctorate in instructional leadership from the University of Florida.

Although reading has never been a leisurely pastime for Rom, he recently wrote "Survival of the Fittest," a book detailing the tribulations of his scholastic endeavors and the willpower it required to conquer his reading issues. It took him eight years to finish the 119-page book, which he self-published through BookSurge.

"I'm not an intellectual," he said. "I had to overcome a lot of barriers. The book is my effort to show people that you can overcome deficits."

He also hopes the book helps educators and parents identify students with reading problems.

The book is being sold online and at several local locations, including Academy at the Farm in Dade City. Proceeds from local sales will go to the charter school's parent-teacher organization.

Rom said he overcame his academic shortcomings mostly through willpower forged, in part, by years of athletic competition. Because he was in college in the late 1960s, a desire to stay out of the Vietnam War also motivated him.

None of it was easy, though.

When he studied in college, he often had to read a paragraph four times before he understood it. One day, he had an epiphany while sitting frustrated in his dorm room at the University of South Florida, a pile of textbooks before him.

"I was feeling sorry for myself," he said. "Then I looked out the window and I saw these two guys walking across campus. I just kept watching them walk until finally I realized I was watching an armless student lead a blind student to class.

"I didn't feel sorry for myself anymore."

He earned his doctorate in 1985.

David Lambert, a spokesman for Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, was a student at Pasco-Hernando Community College when Rom was provost there in the early 1990s.

After Lambert took his entrance exam, Rom addressed the students.

"He just told the story of how he stuck in the race and how long it took him to earn his Ph.D.," Lambert said. "It really inspired me to stick with it, even with all the demands of work, and I had a baby on the way. He talked to us for about 25 minutes and really covered the gamut."

Besides its inspirational message, Rom's book offers chapters on behavioral traits of successful students, study tips and ways to prepare for college, among other topics.

Rom has been director of Academy at the Farm since 2001. He lives in Dade City with his wife, Lucy, a guidance counselor at Pasco High School. The couple have two adult children and five grandchildren, with another expected soon.

"I'm just trying to reach people who are slow or poor readers," he said. "I think there are kids out there who can relate. I hope it gives them assistance."

GET A COPY

For information about ordering "Survival of the Fittest," call Academy at the Farm at (352) 588-9737.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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