20th Anniversary
of Charter
Jan. 30, 2007

Photos courtesy Ian Gleadle and the 
Woodinville Weekly

Verizon provides club with $5,000 Literacy Grant

Verizon Foundation presented the club with a check for $5,000 at ceremonies in Seattle attended by Prez Whitsell and Bill Schink and John Hughes (who collaborated on the literacy grant application to Verizon). James Earl Jones, a prominent voice for Verizon, helped with the presentations. At left is Verizon community affairs V.P. John Gustafson with check for $45,000 to N Power Seattle presented to executive director Jaime Greene. More than $250,000 in technology and literacy grants was distributed December 5.

East Ridge students said thanx with a bundle of colorful and inciteful letters. We're posting several for your enjoyment.

Tim is 
"just itching
to look up
the word
cyberspace"

for more
letters from
East Ridge

third graders . . .

Susan Webster extends her appreciation to all club members who helped with this project . . . with special kudos to 
Al Marsh and Bob Rosso for their help in transporting the dictionaries.

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.”