Foundation, Rotary Team Up to Give Third Graders Dictionaries

Area third graders will again receive dictionaries presented by the Olean Rotary Club through a grant from the Dictionary Fund at the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation. More than 800 dictionaries were purchased from The Dictionary Project, a national organization committed to providing students with their own personal dictionaries. Rotarians, who have spearheaded the project since 2011, will be presenting books to the students throughout March. “It’s a real pleasure to be able to visit the third graders,” said Doug Price, Rotarian and project coordinator. “They are so excited to receive their own dictionary.[“] [“]It is also very inspiring to see the work our dedicated teachers are doing every day in the classrooms of our local schools,” he noted, adding, “We Rotarians are happy to be able to contribute our time for this worthwhile project and we hope to be able to continue this into the future as well.” Students receiving dictionaries include those at Allegany, Eastview, Hinsdale, Portville, Southern Tier Catholic and Washington West elementary schools. The Dictionary Fund, originally established in 2005 at the Community Foundation by Dahmen Brown and Mary Gallagher, was meant to provide area third graders with their own dictionaries, according to Ryan Michelle Wilcox, CRCF director of communications and donor services. Taking a cue from The Dictionary Project, Ms. Wilcox said the local goal of this program is to assist students in becoming good writers, active readers, creative thinkers and resourceful learners by providing them with their own personal dictionary. According to officials at The Dictionary Project, educators see third grade as the dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn. The dictionaries provided through this fund include maps, weights and measures, the Constitution and a list of the United States Presidents, along with other data. The Dictionary Fund is sustained by donations from the Olean Rotary Club and community members, whose generosity is always appreciated, Ms. Wilcox noted. Article Source: www.cattfoundation.org