Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Cape’s reading star gets special visit from mayor
THE Cape’s reading star, Cassidy Hendricks, who was a recent winner of the Western Cape’s SA Literacy Association’s annual reading competition, was delighted with a special visit by Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and ward councillor Donovan Nelson.
Cassidy, 8, is in Grade 3 at Ferndale Primary School in Ottery. The bookworm, who achieved A++ during the competition rounds, has read over 100 books, including on the subject of Greek Mythology.
Cassidy, who has been reading since the tender age of two, has made it her humanitarian duty to read to young and old and was recently featured in Weekend Argus during World Read Aloud Day when she read for the seniors of the Cape Peninsula Organisation for the Aged (CPOA) in Lotus River.
Cassidy shared the names of her favourite authors with the mayor during their interaction on Wednesday evening at her home in Lotus River.
She said The Diary of a Wimpy Kid as well as Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox, Lorna Doone, The Three Musketeers,The Iliad, Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist and David Copperfield and Jeff Kinney topped her list.
Cassidy’s grandmother, Brenda Tommy said it was a memorable moment and shared some insight into her granddaughter’s intellectual capacity: “Cassidy has been reading since age two and has amassed a personal library of more than 400 books across various genres.
“She also told the mayor that she entered a Spelling Bee for grades 3, and last year travelled to Mpumalanga with a luxury coach returning to Cape Town via the Gautrain and in an aeroplane, her maiden voyage,” she said.
“She deftly spelled ‘nepotism’ for him when he asked to spell the only 4 syllable word on the list of 459 words.“
Cassidy has been invited for a future play date with the mayor’s daughter and will soon be engaging with learners at various primary schools in the area to encourage reading, Tommy said.
Tommy said the mayor encouraged the family to let her join Mensa when he heard that she is capable of completing mathematics at grades higher than her own grade.
Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world and is open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test according to Wikipedia.
“A reading and comprehension competition is also being organized by the Western Cape Education Department which he would like to see her enter and she could be the youngest entrant,” said Tommy.
Cassidy has also met more than 20 local authors and told Weekend Argus that she would like to start penning her own stories one day.
“I was delighted to meet young Cassidy
Hendricks at her home in Lotus River, and learn about her passion for books and reading,” said Hill-Lewis.
“At just eight years old, her reading skills are remarkable – on par with Grade 12 learners – and she was named the best reader in the country for English 1st language in Grade 2.
“We are very proud of her reading recognition – as I am sure all her teachers at school are too.
“Cassidy has already discovered for herself that the world of books is a place full of learning, discovery and adventure. I personally love reading too, and encourage every young Capetonian to read. Use our city’s big network of wellstocked libraries.
“Once you discover the magic of books, it will stay with you for the rest of your life and open doors for you wherever you choose to go,” the mayor said.