“Thank you for the gift of reading and friendship” – words expressed by some of the elementary children at PCE recently when Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Tryon came to the school for the third time this year. The Club has been providing volunteer readers and books to every child in PCE three times a year for ten years. Over 13,000 new books have been distributed to the children over the ten-year period.
There are 12 to 15 Rotarians who participate quarterly. Approximately 35 – 40 different Rotarians are involved with the Reading Is Fundamental Program each year. The cost of the books is $4,000 a year; funding is provided by Rotary Club of Tryon Foundation, and the money is earned by five major fundraisers each year.
PCE is a Title I School. About 75 percent of the children receive free lunch. Receiving three new books a year, which they choose themselves quarterly, aids in improving literacy, which is one of the six areas of focus of Rotary International.
Katie Bailey is the PCE librarian and is helpful in assisting the Rotarians to make the best use of their four-hour session with the children on the quarterly visits. Bailey is a Polk County native and graduate of Polk County High School.  She is currently working on her doctorate at Gardner Webb University.
Since the spring visit marked the ten year anniversary of the program, the classes from kindergarten through fifth grade composed poems thanking the Rotarians. A book of these poems was presented to Carolyn Jones, Rotarian, who with the help of her Rotarian husband Bill, has coordinated this worthwhile project over the ten year period. Carolyn has watched children move from kindergarten through fifth grade (seven years of relationship); she remarked that many children see her in the grocery store and speak to her.

– article submitted
by Judy Lair