District Dictionary Project
Paul Brenner, District Dictionary Project
Each year, our District Governor promotes a single district-wide project that benefits young children. It is a unique effort t= hat is undertaken by every club in addition to their regular activities.
Nebraska-Iowa District Governor Mark Holmer has c= hosen The Dictionary Project for this year. The goal is to provide a dictionary to every 3rd grader. Please go to www.dictionaryproject.org for background, pl= us all the info needed to implement Governor Mark’s program.
Basically, hardly any project could be simpler. C= ontact the school superintendent to determine how many 3rd graders there are in the school. You will also need their names to put on labels inside the dictionaries. Select one of the six dictionaries available through the Web site, and order them. Prices range from $1.25 to $2 per book, and shipping = is included. Prepare the labels, put them in the dictionaries, and have member= s go to the school to distribute them. See the Web site for ideas and support for every step along the way.
It is unbelievable how excited the kids are when = they receive their dictionaries. You and your fellow members will most likely de= cide on the spot that the next year’s batch of 3rd graders deserve the sam= e encouragement from you to read, to understand, and to learn. The cost is minimal, the ret= urn is fantastic!
Ideally, the kids may benefit more if they have t= heir dictionaries as early in the 2007-2008 school year as possible. They will u= se these dictionaries for years to come. And, the Kiwanis logo is on every lab= el to remind them (and their parents) of your Club’s efforts for young children.
There are a few Kiwanis clubs that have already d= one this project in the past. For those communities with more than one Kiwanis club, I’d suggest one club handle the local school district, and the other club(s) adopt a school in a town with no Kiwanis club.
For example, the Spencer Daybreakers provided dictionaries this past school year to all 3rd graders in the Spencer School District, plus the two parochial schools, and grade-equivalent home-schooled kids. (By the way, the total cost was only $288.40.) Now, all the clubs in Division 3 have signed on to the goal of providing dictionaries to every 3rd grader in the four-county area served by the division.
Please advise the Lt. Governor of your division w= hen you have completed the project so he or she can report your participation to the District Office and the Governor. Thank you.
Paul Brenner &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Keith Carstens
pbantiqs@smunet.ne= t &= nbsp; &nbs= p; skcarstens@longlines.com
712-262-4113 &= nbsp; &nbs= p; 712-368-473= 3
Maybe in years to come, the Nebraska-Iowa Distric= t will be sponsoring a spelling bee…