r By Lana Hiskey
The Spanish Fork Rotary Club partnered with The Dictionary Project to provide student dictionaries for over 1700 third-graders in Nebo School District. Due to the generosity of many local sponsors, this project was made possible.
The Dictionary Project, founded in 1995 by Mary French, has provided over 31 million children with student dictionaries. The project exists with the goal to “assist all students in becoming good writers, active readers, creative thinkers, and resourceful learners by providing them with their own personal dictionary.”
Julianne Roberts, a sponsor from Larson & Co and member of the Spanish Fork Rotary Club, said, “I think the biggest impact these dictionaries have on these students is that these kids now have their very own book. When we deliver the dictionaries to the schools, so many of them are excited to have something they can put their name in and take home at the end of the year.”
Roberts continued, “These particular dictionaries have so much information besides the typical word definition section: it includes the periodic table, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, information on the US Presidents, and maps of the world.”
Lana Dahl, sponsor from Triple-T Heating and Cooling and member of the Spanish Fork Rotary Club, said of The Dictionary Project, “You would think, with all the technology, that the impact [of the dictionaries] wouldn’t be great, but it is. The students are so excited to know that this book is theirs!”
Lana Hiskey, member of the Spanish Fork Rotary Club, said, “Rotary could not provide these dictionaries without the help and financial backing of the many businesses in the area. Thank you to all those that continue to support Rotary and students.”
Over the next several months, a Spanish Fork Rotary member and local sponsor will visit elementary schools to present each third-grader with a student dictionary.
This year’s sponsors:rAxia Home LoansrBank of American Fork (Spanish Fork)rBank of American Fork (Salem)rCanyon View Medical GrouprCentral BankrEsplin Eye CenterrHuntington Family DentalrLarson & Co.rLuke MarvinrMountain Land PhysicalrTherapyrMountain View HospitalrNebo Credit Union
Payson Lions ClubrRick Ainge, CPArRock Canyon BankrSantaquin PharmacyrSpringville DentistryrSusan BarberrTischner FordrTriple-T Heating and Cooling
