Rotary Club spreads the words

Dictionaries handed out to county's third-graders

Friday, Nov. 5, 2010

County third-graders have been receiving gifts over the last few days, and while they might not be as sweet as the candy they got trick-or-treating, these gifts are considerably more fulfilling.

The Rotary Club of Prince Frederick has had a longstanding tradition of giving away dictionaries to third-graders at all of the schools in its district: Appeal, Barstow, Calvert, Dowell, Mutual and St. Leonard elementary schools as well as Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons.

This year was no different and Rotary Club members Eugene Karol, Marshall Damerell and Tim Hale gave them out at Dowell on Wednesday.

The dictionary given out — "A Student's Dictionary" — not only contains words and their meaning, but also biographies of U.S. presidents; copies of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution; facts about the planets in the solar system; maps of the seven continents; information about the 50 states; the periodic table; and even short lessons on American Sign Language and Braille.

Karol, also a member of the Calvert County Board of Education, said the club targeted third-graders with the initiative because "that's when they can really use a dictionary … so it's practical."

Dowell Elementary School Principal Jennifer Young said fourth- and fifth-grade teachers also really appreciated the students rising into those grade levels already having the dictionaries.

"This is a very cool thing, boys and girls," Young told the third-graders Wednesday.

In addition to handing out the dictionaries Karol also told the students a bit about the Rotary Club, which he said has the motto "service above self."

He said the club makes every decision based on four factors: if it's the truth; if it's fair for all involved; if it will build better friendships; and if it's good for all involved.

Karol then fittingly asked the students to look up the words "friendship" and "truth" in the dictionaries.

Third-grader Haley Wilson of Lusby said her favorite word was "school" and her least favorite word was "bad."

"When you do something bad, it's not very good," said Haley, 8.

Her classmate, 9-year-old Benjamin Manuel of Lusby, said his favorite word was "fun."

"It reminds me of fun things I like to do, like on Halloween and stuff," Benjamin said, adding he appreciated the dictionaries because "I like being able to find definitions without having to go on the computer."

lbuck@somdnews.com