Rotary to give away dictionaries to 3rd graders

About 800 third graders from public schools on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota will each be having their own dictionaries, thanks to the Rotary Club of Saipan.

Vocational Service director Kelley Butcher said via email that they bought over a thousand Webster’s Paperback Dictionaries for the third grade students of the Public School System.

Butcher said that the Rotary’s dictionary project this year is made possible with the assistance of the Rotary Club of Northern Guam in conjunction with the “SoCal Dictionary Project” from the Rotary Club of Pacific Basin out of San Diego.

Delta Air Lines also donated funding from their annual golf fundraiser and helped ship the dictionaries.

Butcher, who is also the legal counsel for PSS, said the project costs $1,519.80, which covers both the dictionaries and labels.

Rotarians affixed the labels, which included the Rotary 4-way test and the Delta Air Lines logo, during their “labeling party” held at the Hard Rock Café. Meanwhile, DFS Galleria provided space to store the dictionaries until they are distributed.

“Our labels allow the children to write their names on the inside cover of the book,” added Butcher.

Butcher, who was among the Rotarians that gave away dictionaries to Rota students last year, said the project aims to give these students “not only the ability to have a reference book at their fingertips but also the joy of owning their very own book.”

“I have heard from teachers that when the students have a spelling lesson or if there is a time when kids need to look up words for definitions, it is nice that the kids have their very own books to use as a resource,” she told Saipan Tribune.

The schedule for the distribution of dictionaries will be announced in coming days.

The Rotary Club of Saipan first gave away dictionaries to public school students in 2011.