Thank you, Rotary!

To our Esteemed Yuma Rotarians:
Wellton Elementary School third graders were once again honored last fall by receiving a Student Dictionary as a result of your Rotarian service project. We were excited to receive them because our classroom elementary dictionaries didn’t have most of the robust vocabulary words in them that we were learning in class each day. We are stepping up our expectations and we have outgrown these older books.
Our writing has improved ten-fold because of this quality resource provided by your generous donations. The children feel a sense of pride in their ownership of the book. You can believe that it is one paperback that is well cared for. They love the discovery of new words. They see their own achievement by using rich and vivid words.
Our school is involved in two service projects each year. Each fall, we collect our coins in the Penny Pitch for Arizona’s Children Association. This spring, we are partnering with Crossroads Mission to help them build their new shelter. We hope to have enough money to buy a door or a window or bunk beds on behalf of the students of Wellton School. Your service project provides a model for our school’s service theme which is giving of ourselves for the betterment of our community. We appreciate your time and commitment so we can point to this dictionary project and say – you too are making a difference. This helps the children see how the circle of sharing goes on and on.
In these financially difficult times, many projects are reduced or eliminated all together. We
appreciate your time, dedication, and financial commitment to the third graders of Yuma County.
With warm regards,
Teresa Kennedy, Third Grade Teacher

Dear Rotary Club Members,

I just want to thank you for the marvelous things you do for our communities and the magnificent gift you gave our students by presenting them with their own dictionaries. As I’ve told you in the past, for many of our students this is the first dictionary they have ever owned and for some it may be the only one they ever own. Each year it amazes me how excited the students are to read the dictionary after you give them this gift.  Some bring it every day to show me something new they found in it and others come in all excited and ask did I know it had information about, say, the planets in it. We just can’t thank you enough for this gift! Please keep up the tradition of providing them because it does mean a lot to our students. This gift is used by our students every day.

Thank you,
Mrs. Davis, Third Grade Teacher
Wellton Elementary School

Dear Members of The Dictionary Project:

As the para-librarian at Palmcroft School, I am writing to thank you for the two dictionaries given to the school library earlier this month. These two books will be great additions to the school’s reference collection, and students at Palmcroft School will find them to be very useful.

Many of the students are just learning how to use a dictionary and other reference materials, and the books given are a good beginning resource. The guide words are large and bold. The print is easy to read, and the layout of the pages is easy to follow. The definitions are clear and concise enough for elementary-level students to understand, yet the meanings of the words defined remain complete. I especially like that the part of speech for each entry is spelled-out rather than abbreviated. Many of the students are just learning the terms for parts of speech and will find the complete word less confusing and more recognizable than an abbreviation.

These books are also valuable to the library because of the different types of resources available within them. The dictionary portion will be useful for students’ needs in spelling and vocabulary. Students also have access to a multiplication table and information on weights and measures. Planet information and the periodic table are available for students needing scientific information. The books also contain a number of social studies resources that I am sure will be utilized for many student reports, especially the information available on the 50 states, the Presidents, and world nations. These books also provide students with access to the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.

What I find most impressive about the books given by your project is just how current the information is within these books. With these books available in the library, students have access to up-to-date information about world nations and geography, the most recent Presidents, and the eight planets of our solar system.

I would like to thank you again for these great reference books. The students at Palmcroft School will find them to be very helpful and informative.
Sincerely,
Tiffany Comstock

Dear Dr. and Mrs. Geyer:

Schools and libraries are always in need of quality reading materials. Because you are willing to use your resources to provide materials that students can use, Pecan Grove students now have new dictionaries that will help them in acquiring new language skills. We have always been most grateful for materials donated, but with fewer funds available in hard economic times, we appreciate each book with a new caring. We want to express our sincere thanks for your thoughtful placing of A Student’s Dictionary in classrooms as well as libraries. In so doing you are sharing with students for many years to come. 

A book shared with a school or library gives benefits to the community that are not ever known. Each student uses them to gain knowledge that will help him or her in the future in a profession, passing educational opportunities to future generations, sharing with siblings, and generally being able to function as productive members of society. In giving books we never realize all of the potential good that we can realize.
Thank you for having the foresight to plan for sharing dictionaries with the students of Pecan Grove School. We will use them to prepare for the future.
Please convey our appreciation to the other sponsors who were instrumental in supplying these dictionaries to the students as well. We are truly grateful!
Sincerely,
Ana Kochis, Third Grade Teacher
Les Baumgarner, Paralibrarian