Rotarians Deliver 1,260 Dictionaries to All Third Grade Students in Westerville

11/9/2012

All third grade students in Westerville, like these at Alcott Elementary, received personal copies of “A Student’s Dictionary,” thanks to the generosity of the Rotary Club of Westerville.

Last week, each third grade student at all 14 elementaries in the Westerville City School District received a personal copy of A Student’s Dictionary, thanks to the Rotary Club of Westerville. After St. Paul third graders get their copies later this month, Rotary representatives will have distributed 1,260 books throughout the community. The gift was made possible through a program called The Dictionary Project, which is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to assist all students to become good writers, active readers, and creative thinkers. The Rotary Club of Westerville raised money for this undertaking through fundraising efforts including the Rotary Fish Fry and the July 4th 5K Road Race. The club was awarded a district matching grant from Rotary to help pay for the dictionaries. They were assisted by volunteers from the Harris-Askins House, who placed a Rotary sticker on the first page of each book. Rotary President Bill McLoughlin said the dictionaries are a nice compliment to the organization’s I Can program. Through I Can, Rotarians teach second graders the ABCs of life – Attitude, Behavior, and Character. David Baker, Westerville City Schools’ Executive Director, Elementary Academic Affairs, said, “We are extremely grateful for this generous donation and for all the outstanding work Rotarians do in our schools. These dictionaries will be used and treasured by our third graders for many years to come.”

A Student’s Dictionary contains not only thousands of words and their definitions, but also more than 150 pages of supplemental information in the back. Key features include the Constitution of the U.S., the Declaration of Independence, brief biographies of all U. S. presidents, world maps, and information about all 50 states, countries of the world, and the planets in our solar system. It ends with the longest word in the English language, consisting of 1,909 letters. It is made in the U. S. A. For more information about The Dictionary Project, please visit www.dictionaryproject.org.