General | January 12, 2024

AIKEN, S.C. – On Thursday morning, the University of South Carolina Aiken Division of Athletics, in conjunction with the School of Education, celebrated the second "Read With The Pacers" program at East Aiken School of the Arts. 

At the Thursday Morning assembly, USC Aiken student-athletes McKenzie Lott and Melvin Archie, along with the staff introduced themselves and spoke to the students about how to work hard to reach their respective goals.

"This past fall semester, after meeting with the School of Education we thought it would be a great opportunity to partner with East Aiken School of the Arts in our second 'Read with the Pacers' initiative," Assistant Athletic Director Brennan Hand said. "We did a reading challenge with them during the months of November and December and had 235 students achieve the reading goal that was set by the teachers. All students at East Aiken School of the Arts that obtained the reading challenge received a ticket voucher for the basketball doubleheader against Columbus State on January 20th. All the staff at East Aiken School of the Arts have been a joy to work with. It was great seeing the excitement in the kids' eyes at the celebration assembly, and we are really excited to host them in the Convocation Center on January 20th."

Prior to the assembly, the Spirit Squad and Ace welcomed each student to school as they entered the building.

What is Read with the Pacers?
"Read with the Pacers" is an incentive-based reading program developed by the University of South Carolina Aiken Athletics and the University of South Carolina Aiken School of Education to promote the importance of literacy in the Aiken County Public School System. 
 
Through "Read with the Pacers," teachers are encouraged to challenge their students to a reading goal through a 9-week period. In an effort to have this program better fit classroom goals and curriculum, teachers set their own goals for their classrooms (ex: number of pages, number of books, number of minutes read). Each student that achieves the reading goal is awarded a voucher for a USC Aiken athletic event during the year.