Definition of giving
Third graders at Dawson-Bryant Elementary School might not know the definition of ‘scrumptious,’ but now have the opportunity to look it up in brand new dictionaries given to them by the Ironton Rotary Club.
More than 100 dictionaries were distributed Friday to students in the Deering cafeteria as part of the Rotary Club’s annual dictionary giveaway. Rotarians Rod Depriest and Ken Meadows, both of National City Bank, handed out the dictionaries.
This year, the club has passed out approximately 900 dictionaries to third-graders in every public and private school in Lawrence County. This is the third year the Ironton Rotary Club has conducted its dictionary giveaway.
‘The objective is to assist with improving literacy in the county,’ said Carl Darling Ironton Rotary president for 2008-2009. ‘We hope to help the students to improve their word knowledge such that they can both understand and utilize a larger vocabulary.’
Darling added that third graders are the perfect age for a project like this.
‘Third graders are eager to learn and, for many, this will be the first book which is theirs to keep. Based upon the letters we receive back from many of the third graders, many of them humorous, they are excited to have their own dictionary and have fun using it.’
Khylee, 8, a student in teacher Bev Harmon’s class, liked her new dictionary, saying she usually has to use a much larger and cumbersome dictionary at home when she finds a word she doesn’t know.
‘I am going to use this nice dictionary to look up words I don’t know,’ Khylee said.
Principal Eric Homes, who challenged the students to find the definition of ‘scrumptious,’ encouraged the students to write their names in the front of the book near the nameplate added by the Rotary.
Each bright red and yellow paperback dictionary contained a brief message on the inside front cover and a thank you for the support of its sponsors.
The sponsors of the 2009 Rotary dictionary giveaway were: Dow Chemical-Americas Styrenics of Hanging Rock, National City Bank of Ironton, The Ironton Tribune, Briggs Lawrence County Library, Creative Financial Solutions, LLC and Don Edwards.
The dictionaries were purchased from the South Carolina based, non-profit charity The Dictionary Project. Founded in 1995, The Dictionary Project’s mission is to provide personal copies of a dictionary for students throughout the United States.
To date more than six million dictionaries have been distributed. The group is funded through individual donations and by sponsors, like Rotary, who introduce the program in their local and county school districts.
