Ellis County Republican Women Prepare Dictionaries for Ellis County Third Graders

Article written by: Scott Dorsett, Daily Light photojournalist  Posted: Saturday, August 15, 2015 10:04 pm AVALON — Members and volunteers with the Ellis County Republican Women’s group spent Thursday morning doing what a lot of folks are doing this time of year. They were getting ready for school, but in a much different way. Since 2002, the ECRW has provided dictionaries to each and every third grader in Ellis County. The dictionaries also include maps, past president biographical data and other historical U.S. data. In total, the ECRW will deliver 2,700 dictionaries this year at a cost of $6,800. “Teachers are simply overjoyed. This is a resource that is given to each student, and they are able to use it throughout the year. We hope that through these outreach programs, students have a better understanding of our constitution, bill of rights and the amazing history of this country,” ECRW’s Tommie Worthy said. “It helps them with their reading, writing and spelling. We can tell that our efforts are producing better citizens.” The ECRW will also provide 2,800 booklets of the U.S. Constitution to each and every Ellis County fifth grader. “This all started with the Texas Federation of Republican Women. They started the dictionary project in 2002. Had it not been through local donations and people supporting our fundraising efforts, projects like this wouldn’t happen. These are two of our biggest community outreach efforts that we’re involved in each year,” said Worthy. Former ECRW president Linda Sibley noted the dictionaries are often the first and most powerful books young students can get. “These kids are so proud, and some say that this is the first book they’ve ever received. It is completely their book, and the smiles on their face make it every bit worth the effort,” said Sibley. “We’ll have community leaders come out during the presentations and they’ll talk about how important the information in the dictionary is. It just makes us proud to see them smile and know we’re making a difference.” With children across the county who don’t have access to online resources, having this information readily available for them can be beneficial, said Sibley. “I had a high school student in Midlothian tell me that they still had their dictionary, and that it had been such a useful resource over the years that they were taking it to college with them,” said Sibley… Read more