Lamar Rotary Club prepares for its 25th annual dictionary distribution to local third grade students
Barbara Crimond | Sep 24, 2025 | Comments 0
Lamar Rotary Members prepare dictionaries for the 25th annual distribution to local students
The Lamar Rotary Club is preparing for its 25th annual dictionary distribution. Each year, every third grader in 14 schools located in Prowers, Baca, Kit Carson counties as well as McClave School receives their own dictionary, personalized with a handwritten note from a Rotarian.
The Dictionary Project is an international program whose goal is to give a dictionary to every third grader in the US and other parts of the world. Many rotary clubs participate in the program nationally and internationally. To date, the Dictionary Project has provided some 30 million dictionaries to young students in the US and internationally. The goal of the project is to have a positive impact on education and to empower children to become skillful communicators and resourceful learners. A personal dictionary may be a small thing, but it is a powerful tool to help with learning. For many young students, this dictionary is the first book that they have ever owned as theirs alone. Lamar Rotary members have long delighted in seeing the smiles on the faces of the students as they receive their dictionary and often hear things such as “I can really keep this? It’s just for me?”.
Educators have determined that the third grade is the best time to begin teaching young students how to use a dictionary. It is a key step in helping them to make the important transition between “learning to read” and “reading to learn”. The Websters Dictionary for Students is created with age-appropriate word lists and kid-friendly definitions. The book includes 37,000 definitions of words kids use every day and allows the students to explore spelling, word meanings and derivations. A positive aspect of the program is that it helps develop autonomy and confidence in the learner, which is one of the core goals of education. It improves the accuracy of the child’s vocabulary as well as improving reading skills and helps with homework and can serve as a reference for all of the family.
According to Rotary International, 67 million kids worldwide have no access to education and more than 775 million persons over the age of 15 are illiterate. One of Rotary’s goals is to strengthen the capacity of communities, to support basic education and literacy and increase adult literacy. Rotary was founded in 1905 in Chicago as the world’s first volunteer service organization and is non-religious, non-governmental and open to every race, culture and creed. Members in its 34,000 clubs worldwide volunteer in communities at home and abroad to support education and job training and provide clean water, combat hunger, and improve health and sanitation. They practice the “4-way Test” of 1) Is it the truth? 2) Is it fair to all concerned? 3) Will it build goodwill and better friendship and 4) Will it be beneficial to all concerned?.
More information on Rotary can be found at www.rotary.org. Lamar Rotary Club meets on the first and second Thursdays of each month at noon at the Cow Palace.
By: Barbara Crimond
Filed Under: Charity • Education • Featured • School • Youth
About the Author:
