MARYSVILLE For the second year in a row, the Marysville Rotary plans to hand out dictionaries to third-grade students in three local districts, described as part of the groups efforts to increase literacy throughout the area.
The Rotary is looking for member volunteers to help hand out the books at schools in the Marysville, Lakewood and Arlington school districts on Feb. 22.
Rotary members should contact their clubs for more information.
According to the Marysville Rotarys Daryn Bundy, the dictionary give-away is an offshoot of the Rotarys long-standing Pumpkins for Literacy program.
Around Halloween each year, Pumpkins for Literacy sees the sale of pumpkins and concessions with the proceeds going toward literacy projects in the three districts served by the local Rotary.
In the past, the Rotary has provided anywhere from $500 to $1,000 to literacy projects at numerous elementary schools.
With the growth of the project, last year we decided to try supplying third-graders with a high quality, hardback American Heritage Childrens Dictionary, Bundy said. This is a keepsake item for the kids to personally have and use year after year.
Bundy said that last year, students signed their names in the dictionaries as they received them. Rotarians gave brief speeches on how to use the books.
For this year, the Marysville Rotary plans to visit 10 schools with the dictionaries. Bundy estimates some 50 volunteers will be needed to make the day a success. Two volunteer time slots are planned: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The Marysville Morning Rotary will give books to fourth-grade students in the Lakewood school district the same day. According to Bundy, the combined efforts will result in the distribution of more than 1,200 books.