After a short assembly and presentation by Rotary officials on all the information packed into the soft-bound, recent edition dictionaries, the students clamored into lines and were handed the free copies all donated to the school.
“We have been distributing dictionaries to the third-graders in Lakota schools for four years now and we have given out approximately 4,964 dictionaries,” said Susan Hendel, coordinator for the Rotary program, one of many that provide resources, scholarships and other donations to area schools.
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“I took on the project because when I volunteered the first year I loved the questions, enthusiasm, and how thankful the third-graders were to receive their own dictionary,” said Hendel.
“The majority of third-graders do not have their own dictionary and we felt like that was very important,” she said.
“Words are very important in this computer age and the dictionaries have not just words but also the presidents, the continents and a lot of stuff they don’t know,” she said referring to additional sections of explanatory and historical information found in the editions handed out.
“The most exciting thing is the third-graders’ reaction to the dictionaries,” she said.
“The Rotary is so generous to bring this program into our elementary schools every year,” Lauren Boettcher, spokeswoman for Lakota Schools, said. “It’s yet another great example of how our community partners are helping shoulder the responsibility of providing our students with as many experiences and resources as possible.”
“It’s a simple thing, but receiving their own personal dictionary seems to really energize our third-graders at a time when we especially want them to be excited about reading and learning new things,” she said.
Endeavor Elementary Principal Joanna Sears said the annual event is a treat for both her students and the teachers and staffers at the school.
“This is something really special for our kids. They really enjoy getting something that is their own,” said Sears.
“They are used to looking things up on their phones or other technology and it’s nice to take them back to something they can hold in their hand,” she said.
Last school year some of the third-graders wrote Rotary officials thank you notes.
Among them was one student who shared their excitement.
“I can’t wait to use it. My favorite word is cracker because I like crackers,” wrote the student.
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