New dictionaries for third graders

Third-grade students at C. D. Franks Elementary in Ashdown each received a dictionary to use and keep as their own personal reference book as part of The Dictionary Project, an organization originally begun in 1995 in South Carolina.  CDF Principal Teresa Wake and third-grade teachers handed out the individual copies to students on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
The Dictionary Project, a non-profit charitable organization, was founded by Mary French in 1995 to provide personal copies of a dictionary for third-grade students in the South Carolina public school system, but has grown into an national program after it was featured in an article on the front page of The Wall Street Journal on March 4, 2002. To date, over 16 million dictionaries have been donated to children in the United States and internationally.
The project believes that a dictionary is an essential tool for a quality education and serves as a resource for the whole family. It is funded through individual donations and by sponsorships; all contributions are tax deductible. The project continues to expand, now including sponsors in all fifty states and several countries, and has been adopted by civic organizations such as Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs, Lions Clubs, and numerous others.
Anyone can participate in this project by sponsoring a program to give dictionaries to children in their community.