Members of the St. Charles Lions Club recently delivered dictionaries to 697 third grade students and teachers in 33 classrooms.

Members of the St. Charles Lions Club recently delivered dictionaries to 697 third grade students and teachers in 33 classrooms. They were handed out to the students in the St. Charles School District, the Orchard Farm School District, and the parochial schools in the area. This is the third year that the club has handed out the special paperback dictionaries to third grade students. Not only do the dictionaries have a great number of words, but they also have information about the Presidents of the United States, each individual state, and many other useful items. Portions significant to Lions are the Braille alphabet, and the sign language alphabet. The most intriguing portion for the students is the longest word in the English language, which contains 1,909 letters and covers a full page. Teachers praise the dictionaries. The teachers at Null Elementary School said, “We like to teach students new words to enrich their vocabulary, and this will be the perfect tool!” Students love them too. A child who received her dictionary two years ago took it home with her and slept with it. Another student showed a great sense of humor in his “Thank You” note: “Thank you for the dictionary again. Sorry I have to write another letter. It’s because I am in school, and my teacher told me I had to.” Another student simply said, “It is so cool to have my own dictionary!” The president of the St. Charles Lions Club, Lyn Porterfield, said, “Our distribution of the dictionaries is one of the many ways we serve our community, and it fits well with the Reading Action Program recently established by Lions Clubs International to promote literacy throughout the world.” Lions Clubs International is the largest service club organization in the world. Its 1.35 million members in more than 46,000 clubs are serving communities in 207 countries and geographical areas around the globe. Since 1917, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired, championed youth initiatives and strengthened local communities through hands-on service and humanitarian projects. For more information about Lions Clubs International, visit lionsclubs.org. For more information about the St. Charles Lions Club, call 636-916-4441, or contact lynpat@charter.net.