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Press
release submitted to/and published by Woodinville Weekly Dec.
25, 2006
Rotary
filling literacy void for third graders
The 1,400
third graders in Northshore School District’s 21 elementary
school are getting a little extra “literacy” boost this
holiday season.
Woodinville Rotarian Susan Webster and Northshore
Rotarian Fred Jossy report that “the Rotary clubs of
Woodinville and Northshore want third grade kids to know that
Rotarians care about their ability to read, write and
comprehend. That’s
why both clubs are partnering with the Northshore School
District to assure that all third grade students in the district
get their own personal copy of a children’s dictionary this
academic school year.”
Sparked
by a Rotary
International goal of “Universal Literacy”, and
ignited by a grant from the Verizon
Foundation to the Woodinville club, local Rotarians are
working together to get dictionaries into not only the hands,
but also into the homes of these children and their families.
Webster
and Jossy note that “the American
Heritage Children’s Dictionary is a new edition,
hard-bound, color reference published by Houghton Mifflin with
nearly 1,000 pages of vocabulary, pronunciation keys, thesaurus,
phonics, parts of speech, geography and maps – an
age-appropriate dictionary packed full of meaningful
information. The
dictionary will also be a useful tool for English Language
Learners and students living below the poverty level.
Having a personal dictionary will allow parents and
guardians to help their children at home with their homework.”
Jan
and Jerry Erickson, Woodinville residents who operate a Bothell
printing business, remember when their daughter won the second
grade spelling bee. “Our
daughter, Suzanne, received a dictionary as a gift then and has
treasured it ever since. She
has actually passed it along to her own children once they
reached school age. Now at ages 8, 10 and 12, it is getting
heavy usage again!”
The
dictionary project is aimed at elementary school kids.
In third grade, students are beginning to develop word
and dictionary skills. By
giving each student a dictionary to own and take home, these
children will have a personal resource in their individual homes
to develop the very important word skills required of all
students facing the State of Washington WASL testing.
Greater
Woodinville schools receiving the dictionaries include Kokanee,
Wellington, Hollywood Hill, East Ridge, Sunrise, Woodmoor,
Cottage Lake and Bear Creek.
Rotary
is worldwide organization of 1.2 million business and
professional leaders in 32,000 clubs who provide similar
humanitarian service in 200 countries around the world.
Local Rotary clubs work together to provide services in
their communities and enlist supporters, sponsors and
underwriters to assist them with their ability to serve and
further their commitment to “Service Above Self.” |
