General | February 23, 2023

Photo Gallery

AIKEN, S.C. – On Wednesday morning, the University of South Carolina Aiken Department of Athletics, in conjunction with the School of Education, celebrated the inaugural Read And Write With The Pacers program at Leavelle McCampbell Middle School.

With Dr. Deborah McMurtrie, Dr. Gary Senn, Brennan Hand, Carson Suess, Nick Varda, McKayla Green, Julianna Mills, Christian Reagin and Ace The Pacer in attendance, USC Aiken talked to over 500 students at the school who reached their reading and writing goal.

At the Wednesday morning assembly, the USC Aiken student-athletes and staff introduced themselves, spoke to the crowd about the importance of reading and writing and how to continue to work hard to reach their respective goals. 

Additionally, Ace was able to pump up the crowd multiple times. At the end of the assembly, the top classes from each grade stayed for a picture with everyone involved in setting up the program. Fans can click the photo gallery to view pictures from the assembly.  

"Leavelle McCampbell comes to our annual athletic recognition night every year and I felt the urge to pilot a program with them that would allow our athletic department to be involved even more with our local schools and community," Hand said. "My hope is that this is just the beginning and we will be able to expand the program to more local schools in the near future."

In the fall, Hand and McMurtrie discussed having the "Read And Write With The Pacers" with one local school. 

"I knew that Leavelle McCampbell Middle School would be a great choice," McMurtrie stated. "Leavelle has partnered with USC Aiken's School of Education for many years. Their teachers mentor our education majors in their classrooms; their principal serves on our advisory council; their students attend an annual 'Athletic Recognition Night' as well as field trips at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center; and our teacher candidates work in their afterschool program and volunteer as mentors each semester.

"For this inaugural challenge, every student at Leavelle set a reading and writing goal and tracked their progress for six weeks," McMurtrie continued. "Students who achieved their goal would receive vouchers to attend a USC Aiken home baseball game. We were hoping that 50-100 of their students would meet their goal, but the final number actually exceeded 500. Because of this great success, we are planning to offer the "Read with the Pacers" program to other schools next year. We are so proud of Leavelle for "leading the way!"