Rotary is an international organization passionate about education. If everyone in the world could read and write, each would be able to share their personal gifts with the world and ultimately live up to his or her full potential.
In this day and age of computers and spell check, do children really need a paperback dictionary? This was discussed when the club initiated this service project. Teachers gave us a absolute “YES.” For 8- and 9- year old children who are still learning to read, the internet is not a safe or consistent environment for learning. For some children, this may be their first book. For these reasons, the Centre Rotary Club agreed to pair up with the non-profit organization the Dictionary Project to purchase affordable dictionaries and to distribute them to local third graders.
During the month of December, the Centre Rotary Club has handed out more than 300 dictionaries to third graders in the Cherokee County Elementary Schools. Dedicated third grade educators teach the children how to use the dictionaries from comprehension, spelling and alphabetizing. This empowers children to become good writers, active readers, creative thinkers and resourceful learners.
The Student’s Dictionary is much more than the traditional dictionary. It also contains information on weights and measures; science elements; the Constitution; sign language; the world; the countries; the states; the presidents; the planets, and much more. These books are a wealth of facts and trivia.
Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders worldwide who provide humanitarian service and help build international goodwill and peace. There are 1.2 million Rotarians in over 200 countries in the world whose projects address the social challenges of today like literacy, disease, hunger, poverty, lack of clean water and environmental concerns, while encouraging high ethical standards.
The Centre Rotary Club has 30 members who provide community service projects like Dictionaries for Third Graders, the Canned Food Drive for the Cherokee Crisis Center, and the SO-COOL program every summer. The club meets each Monday at 12:00 pm at the First Southern State Bank in Centre, AL. Club 4028/District 6860
Written by: Trudy Lowe, Member/Club President Centre Rotary Club