Dictionaries close to Rotary’s heart

Editor:

It was with some interest that I read the letter a week or so ago recommending that parents ensure that their children have dictionaries. The Rotary Club of Wooster and I couldn’t agree more.

Each year since 2005, Wooster Rotary has presented a student dictionary to every third grader in the Wooster school system. Our goal is to empower the students with words, to help them better understand the English language and to encourage them to read. The club includes a sticker with the Rotary Four-Way test on the inside cover of each volume.

The dictionaries are well received and we hope the students will use them to their advantage throughout their elementary years. In addition to the words, each dictionary also includes a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, information about the United States Flag and biographies of the U.S. Presidents.

It also includes information about the fifty United States, other countries, the planets, multiplication tables, the Periodic Table of the Elements, sign language and a variety of other useful facts, so they become a handy reference tool as well.

We consider the dictionary project an important step in Rotary’s campaign to promote literacy throughout our region.

Tim Swift, president

Rotary Club of Wooster