News Release – Rotary Club of Front Royal

Rotary Club of Front Royal Distributes 423 Dictionaries to Local 3^rd Grade Students

Contact:

Jennifer McDonald, President (540) 683-6010
Lori Glascock, Committee Chair (540) 636-6437
Doug Stanley, Public Relations Committee Chair (540) 622-4848

Front Royal, VA – The Rotary Club of Front Royal is proud to announce that they have distributed a total of 423 Webster’s Student Dictionaries to 3rd grade students in Warren County this year. The Rotary Dictionary Project delivered to the following schools: AS Rhodes, Dynamic Life Christian, E Wilson Morrison, Front Royal Christian, Hilda J Barbour, Leslie Fox Keyser, Mountain Laurel Montessori and Ressie Jeffries. Warren County High School Interact Club, a level of Rotary for high-school age students, and 36 Rotarians assisted with distribution of dictionaries.

The goal of passing out dictionaries is to assist all students in completing the school year as good writers, active readers and creative thinkers by providing them with their own personal dictionary. The dictionaries are a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come. Reading is the most important skill of all. It is the starting point for all the economic and social opportunities this world has to offer. Educators see third grade as the dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn.  The program is part of the Dictionary Project which has been supported by Rotary clubs across the globe.

Lori Glascock, Chair for the Dictionary Project Committee, shared, “One of the greatest things about this project is to see the impact of an Interact student telling a 3rd grader that they still have and use the dictionary they received when they were in 3rd grade. It’s a very relatable moment between those students that speaks to the positive effect of the literacy component of the program, as a high school student models their level of academic achievement, and creates value and tradition for the elementary students.”

Members of the Rotary Club of Front Royal passing out dictionaries at Hilda J. Barbour Elementary

Royal Christian School students show off their new dictionaries

Club Member Alan Wimer talking to students at Ressie Jeffries Elementary about Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio

Members of the Rotary Club of Front Royal passing out dictionaries at Ressie Jeffries Elementary

Members of the Rotary Club of Front Royal passing out dictionaries at A.S. Rhodes Elementary

According to current Club President Jennifer McDonald, “The dictionary project is one of my favorite projects this Rotary Club participates in because of the looks on the children’s faces when they receive the dictionary. It is very rewarding to know that we are giving back to the youth of this community. ”