High school student exposes classmates’ abysmal reading skills — as they struggle with words like ‘silhouette,’ ‘extraordinary’

NY Post ^ | 05/03/2026 | Anthony Blair

[DFG]

A high school student in Philadelphia exposed how his classmates are struggling to read easy words and comprehend relatively simple sentences in a viral series of videos.

And he may have gotten in hot water for his trouble.

The videos, posted on TikTok, show the teenagers failing to read a sentence on a piece of paper while being filmed at the city’s Preparatory Charter School of Mathematics, Science, Technology and Careers.

In the clip, made by user “whatthevek” earlier this week, not a single high school-aged student was able to read the sentence, “She wore a silhouette of clothes that were extraordinary but somewhat gauche.”

He made a follow-up video a day later in which the students were apparently unable to make sense of the sentence, “The colonel asked the choir to accommodate the governor’s schedule.”

The two videos racked up a combined 1.7 million likes and thousands of comments, but “whatthevek” later claimed he wouldn’t be making a third due to threats from authorities at Prep Charter.

“I would post a part three, but the school board is trying to expel me, stop me from going to prom, and stop me from walking at graduation. I don’t know chat,” he wrote in an Instagram story on Friday.

South Philly-based Prep Charter, one of the most diverse schools in the state, did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

State test scores show that just 53% of students at the school tested proficient in reading, and just 19% were proficient in math.

The video has sparked outrage, with many calling out the parents as well as the school.

“Yo late Gen Xers and older Millennials have failed their kids so badly. How can you neglect your child so badly, you don’t make sure they can read?!” one X user wrote.

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TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: closekthru12; education; philadelphia; whatthevek

[MarlonRando]

silhouette is an easy word? Really?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

For people who do not have to hit their only brain cell with a hammer to try to get it to function, yes.

[dfwgator]

Evelyn Woodhead Speed Reading Course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrwDzuUtQKY

[Tanniker Smith]

By high school? Yes. They should’ve seen it and heard it by then. (*)

If they are trying to sound it out for the first time — or spell it — then no.

(*) Take Google AI for what it’s worth (not much, admittedly) but it says the word should appear by second grade (age 7-8) in art projects, and 4th-6th grade for vocabulary.

[goodnesswins]

In high school...which this is...it should be easy.

[Steely Tom]

Yeah, to be fair, those words are a bit advanced.

A kid who did a lot of reading would know them by ninth grade or so, when I was growing up.

But there would have been lots of kids who stumbled on them if asked to read them aloud without preparation. Maybe they weren't the kind of kids who would go on to major in engineering or chemistry, but they also wouldn't have been dummies.

[MarlonRando]

I don’t know, that seems like a tough word to spell. Here’s one—

“ Gesundheit ,” for when you sneeze. No one knows the ethnic European words or phrases anymore.

[Jane Long]

silhouette is an easy word? Really?

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Should be.

But, not for many educated in public screwels within the past 15 - 20 years.

Does that include you?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

They were not being asked to spell it but to read it.

Which you would have know if you had bothered to read the article or even the headline.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

According to “U.S. News & World Report”, here is how the math, science and technology charter high school performs:

Mathematics Proficiency 21%
Reading Proficiency 56%
Science Proficiency 18%

[Jane Long]

Advanced??

More like basic reading for high school grad age.

[Steely Tom]

I don’t know. It’s hard to remember back that far. Maybe you’re right. This is admittedly a specialized high school for high achievers.

[Verginius Rufus]

How about Schadenfreude?

Maybe they confused "gauche" with "gaucho" and didn't think a woman could be a cowboy.

[BradyLS]

I know what a silhouette is. But I think it’s misapplied in the given example. I think the proper word should be ‘suit’ for the sentence to make more sense:

“She wore a suit of clothes that were extraordinary but somewhat gauche.”

…Or maybe a different sentence using the word ‘silhouette’…

”The model’s ensemble of haute couture clothing gave her a striking silhouette as she approached the runway.”

[dfwgator]

Maybe they confused “gauche” with “gaucho” and didn’t think a woman could be a cowboy.

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Why is he standing in your spangled leather poncho?

[Third Person]

yes, really

[Third Person]

lol

[Third Person]

last album the best, or is it their first?

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Bodacious cowboys such as your friend will never be welcome here.