Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon told fourth graders at North Aiken Elementary "A Pirate’s Tale" Friday morning, and from the first “Arrrgh,” they were hooked.
Osbon read “How I Became a Pirate” to students in Beth Mayberry’s gifted and talented class to celebrate International Literacy Day. About 20 other community members also shared their love of reading with children as part of the schoolwide event.
“I’m all about literacy,” said Cat Hamilton, the literacy coach at North Aiken Elementary. “It is so important that we increase the opportunities for our students to read, write, listen, speak, think and have reasoning skills, and what greater way to do it than to start with books?”
Hamilton said celebrating reading “makes for a more literate America.”
“We try to make sure that our children have every opportunity to read more, be read to, read to others, write more and have teachers and other significant others write with them,” she said.
Mayberry said she picked a pirate book for Osbon to read because Jamaica and its efforts to increase literacy in the island nation are the themes of this year’s International Literacy Day. It also offered the children an opportunity to stretch their imaginations through literacy.
“It gave the children a chance maybe to go places they’ve never been before,” she said.
Mayberry said the mayor and the other volunteer readers are positive role models.
“It’s so important for our children to see role models from the community who come and care and can love on them and take their time to just be a positive person they can know,” she said. “It also shows them how important reading is to any job, no matter what you do.”
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