Third-graders light up with gift of dictionaries

Thayer Loose, a North Augusta Elementary School third-grader, was excited about receiving a dictionary from North Augusta Rotary Club members - including his uncle, club president Walker Posey on Tuesday.

As he looked through his new book, Thayer was delighted to find the world's longest word listed.

"I'm going to try to remember it," he said happily, undaunted by the fact that the word - a kind of scientific protein - has more than 1,900 letters!

The North Augusta club and two others - the Aiken Rotary Club and Aiken Sunrise Rotary - have delivered more than 2,000 dictionaries to all third-graders in Aiken County public and private schools. Rotary organizations through the nation have also donated dictionaries in recent weeks.

"It's an absolute joy to give these dictionaries to these children," said North Augusta Rotarian Jim Huff. "It's something special for them, and seeing the surprise on their faces is something we don't forget."

Aiken Superintendent Dr. Beth Everitt, an Aiken Rotary Club member, also enjoyed seeing the kids Tuesday. One third-grade girl was clearly stunned, asking if she really could take the book home with her.

"I want to thank the Rotary Clubs for this wonderful project," Everitt said. "It supports our reading initiative, and it's fun seeing how excited the kids are about finding words. One little girl told me last year, 'I'm not taking my book home, because I don't want my little brother to use it.'"

Also attending the event at the elementary school were Aiken Rotary Club President Herb Mattocks and Steve Black, a Sunrise member. Black has delivered dictionaries to schools before, but this is the first time he had a chance to watch the children get them. He was impressed by how enthusiastic and thrilled the students were as they thumbed through the dictionaries.

"It's reassuring," said Mattocks, director of the Aiken Center for Alcohol and Drug Services, "to see how excited the kids are about having a school book. But it's also amazing to see the number of kids in my other life who don't have any books at home."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.