JEFFERSON COUNTY, W.Va. -- As they have done for many years, the Rotary Clubs of Shepherdstown and Charles Town have teamed up this fall to provide free dictionaries and thesauruses to students in Jefferson County schools.
The two clubs buy the books with Rotary funds, and club members volunteer their time to distribute them in the schools. They give dictionaries to all the third graders in the County's schools and thesauruses to all the fifth graders.
“The Dictionary Project is one of our favorite projects of each year,” said Bruce Dillon, Service Committee co-chair for Rotary Club of Charles Town. “It’s not just a dictionary and reference lesson, but also a way to show kids that there are people within their community that give back and the importance of helping others.”
“It’s easy to think that with today’s technology, kids wouldn’t be interested in a dictionary or thesaurus, but they really get excited about it,” Dillon said.
This year, there are a total of 616 third graders and 664 fifth graders in the County's schools.
The Shepherdstown Club handles distributions to the schools in the northern part of the county at C.W. Shipley, Driswood, North Jefferson, Shepherdstown, and T.A. Lowery elementary schools.
The Charles Town Club handles distributions to Blue Ridge, Ranson, and South Jefferson Elementary Schools, plus Wright Denny Intermediate School.
Jefferson County Schools is proud to support Rotarians in their efforts to promote literacy through the distribution of dictionaries and thesauruses.