At the end of the school year, rising East Mecklenburg High School junior Jaime Morey was challenged by his English teacher to jot down unfamiliar words on a notepad over the summer.

Morey said he wasn’t a huge fan of reading and English language arts in school, but was very motivated by his teacher to do well in class. Unsure of where to start for his list, Morey said his teacher encouraged him to visit a library.

With a blank legal pad in hand, Morey began reading “Dead Poets Society.” While reading, he came across a word that he remembered was on a test that, at the time, he didn’t know the meaning of.

Now, what once started as a blank legal notepad has turned into pages filled with words like “odium” and “sonorous” and “sophist.”

“But what good is a list of words just for me?” Morey said he asked himself.

With that question in mind, Morey decided he didn’t want to just keep the list of words he was discovering to himself, so he created an Instagram page for his peers called @eastmecksummervocab.

Morey’s posts are simple. He has a template where he will include the word and its definition, a synonym and he will use it in a sentence. The words are also accompanied by an image and sound. Morey said his posts are a great way to start his morning.

He even tried a different format by interviewing president and CEO of Communities in Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Men Tchaas Ari, who shared both the word of the day and one of his favorite words “persnickety.”

“The video did way better,” exclaimed Morey.

Morey’s page is slowly growing — from starting with 13 followers to now more than 60. And he’s gotten some feedback from his friends.

“I was talking to one of my friends and the word I had posted was ‘dubious’ and during our conversation, I was surprised because they told me, ‘oh, that’s very dubious,’” said Morey. “And I was like, ‘whoa, you used the word!’”

Morey’s goal is to help as many people as he can and he wants to eventually rebrand the page so that it feels open to more than just East Mecklenburg students. Morey’s ever-expanding list of words is also great prep for SAT and ACT tests which he’s currently studying for.

“I’ve definitely discovered a lot of new words and that reading isn’t boring,” said Morey, who prefers a good mystery. “I encourage more students to read!”