LEWISBURG -- Julia Borys, a third-grade student at Kelly Elementary, was beaming as she clutched the brand new dictionary that her teacher, Margaret O'Connor, had just handed her. She was so excited, so happy, in fact, that you'd have thought her teacher was giving her an autographed copy of the latest Hannah Montana soundtrack CD.
Actually, Ms. O'Connor, and Pamela A. Brennan, representing the Downtown Lewisburg Rotary Club, were handing out free dictionaries not only to Ms. Borys, but also to everyone else in the class last Wednesday as part of the Rotary's Dictionary Project, a non-profit national initiative aimed at third-graders.
At Kelly Elementary, there are eight third-grade classes, with around 155 students. Every one of them received dictionairies. This is the third year the third-graders at Kelly have received free dictionaries from the Rotary Club.
Tony Failla, another student in Ms. O'Connor's class, clutched at his book and thought it was "pretty cool. This looks like a good book," he remarked, leafing through some pages.
According to the Dictionary Project Web site, more than 1.9 million dictionaries were donated to students nationwide in 2006 by various corporate, individual and club "sponsors," who have to buy the books at $1.75 a copy.
"It's terrific to see this level of excitement about learning," observed Ms. Brennan. "Look how thrilled the kids are. For many of them, this is the first dictionary they have ever gotten. It's theirs to keep and take home, even after the school year."
Why third-graders? "Because this is the grade level where studies show that students are starting to read, build vocabularies and beginning to use dictionaires," explained Becky Shannon, another third-grade teacher (Room 111) at Kelly Elementary. Ms. Shannon, a former Rotary Club member, helped kick start the program at Kelly.
As she handed out books, Ms. Brennan told the class why people use dictionaries. "If you talk well, if you can write, then you can be anything you want to be," she said.
Ms. Brennan then asked the class to look up two words, "service" and "community," giving students a chance to practice using their dictionaries.
As the students got up, one by one, to receive their books, Ms. Brennan explained a little about Rotary Club to the class, and how it is a service club that serves local communities, like Lewisburg, and communities around the world.
"Our club is a small one," she said later, "but we hope to make a big difference in the students' lives. It's good to give dictionaries to kids. It opens up the world of words to them."
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Rotarians distribute free dictionaries
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