Sierra Vista Rotary Clubs and the Dictionary Project create “learning” smiles

On Friday, 12 December 2008, Sierra Vista Noon Rotary Club President John Spengler along with President-Elect Jim Evans, and fellow Rotarians Lou Kuttner, Marilyn Culpepper, Pete Huisking and Tim Quinn created excitement and smiles on the faces of 125 third graders at the General Myers Elementary School on Fort Huachuca, Arizona, when they personally handed each child their own dictionary. Each child quickly signed their name in their new book and set about flipping through the pages learning about the longest word in the English language (1,909 letters long), information about the state or country in which they were born, and even trying out some of the sign language shown in the book. Over the next couple of weeks, every third grader in the Sierra Vista, Arizona, area will receive their very own dictionary. It was difficult to tell by the smiles on the faces of all those involved who enjoyed the day more, the children receiving the dictionaries or the Rotarians handing them out. With the help of The Dictionary Project, each of the 7th graders in three local school districts will receive their very own Thesaurus.