||| FROM BARBARA MARRETT for ROTARY CLUB OF THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS |||
The Rotary Club of the San Juan Islands is in the process of distributed age-appropriate dictionaries to 3rd graders county-wide. Now, in its 16th year, 4,776 have been distributed over the years.
At the back of the dictionary, the Friday Harbor Elementary school kids enjoyed perusing the gazetteer section, finding the pages with maps, math, money, the human skeleton and many more fun facts and drawings. The dictionaries will also be distributed to Orcas Elementary, Lopez Elementary, Griffin Bay School and Salmonberry School.
“The idea is to promote curiosity and life-long learning,” said Rotarian Barbara Fagan who has chaired the program since its inception in 2007. Rotarian Scott Sluis told the children, “I know a high-school senior who still finds his 3rd grade dictionary helpful. It’s pretty tattered by now, though.”
In the front of each book is the Rotary’s 4-way test of “All We Think, Say and Do.” The kids read it out loud:
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOOD WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
- Is it BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
When asked if the kids knew the meaning of the word beneficial, one 3rd grader piped up and said, “I’ll look it up in my new dictionary!”
Interested in joining Rotary? More information at www.rotaryfoundationsanjuanislands.org.
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