This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Staff writer

District 11 third-graders received a learning tool to last a lifetime when local Rotarians recently presented each one of them with their very own dictionary.

Anoka Rotarians Ron Norden and Bruce Bastian made a special dictionary delivery to six dozen Washington Elementary School third-graders on Nov. 18.

“We’re giving you something only third-graders get and you can use it all the way up to your college years. It’s yours to keep forever and ever and ever,” said Norden as he and Bastian handed students the prized possession.

In addition to Anoka Rotarians, Rotarians from the Blaine/Ham Lake Rotary Club, the Coon Rapids Rotary Club and the Ramsey Rotary Club also distributed dictionaries to Anoka-Hennepin’s third-graders.

That means every one of District 11’s third-graders will receive a dictionary – that’s some 3,000 brand new dictionaries delivered precisely at the time those students are learning to navigate a dictionary’s pages, mimic pronunciations and translate definitions.

The dictionaries are given as a gift by the Rotary Clubs as part of the National Dictionary Program of Charleston, S.C.

Local businesses and the Anoka-Hennepin Education Foundation provide financial support.

Dictionaries are presented to each third-grade student in District 11’s 28 elementary schools as well as those enrolled in two parochial schools in Anoka and Coon Rapids and those who are third-graders at the PACT Charter School in Ramsey.

The goal of the Dictionary Project is to improve the reading ability and comprehension of all children, everywhere.

As stated on its Web site, the goal of the Dictionary Project is “to encourage children to use dictionaries so that they will be able to use the English language effectively. A student cannot do his or her best work without a dictionary. By providing this tool we assist teachers in helping all students become active readers, good writers, creative thinkers and resourceful learners.”

Washington Elementary School’s third-graders seemed thrilled with the gift of many words, flipping through the pages to find the world’s longest word,  mimicking hand positions to form words in sign language, examining maps printed on designated pages and exploring planets illustrated and described within.

“There’s not just words in your dictionary. There’s numbers and measurements, maps, times, planets, sign language and more,” Bastian told the students, then challenged them to find a word with which to quiz their parents’ or grandparents’ knowledge.

“They’ll say, ‘How do you know that word?’ and you can tell them you found it in your dictionary,” Bastian said as students carefully printed their names on the opening page of their new word tome.

Childish words of gratitude flood the Dictionary Project mailbox, and District 11’s third-graders are equally thankful for the very verbose gift.

“Thank you for the dictionary. I am grateful for the gift. I appreciate it. It is a useful book. Thank you for believing in me,” wrote Rosie of Louisiana.

“Thank you for the dictionary. I never had my own dictionary before. I keep it with me all the time. Just in case I need it,” wrote Logan of Virginia.

As the two Anoka Rotarians left his classroom after handing each student a dictionary, one Washington Elementary School third-grader said, “This book makes me feel like I can do everything.”

To learn more about the Dictionary Project, visit www.dictionaryproject.org.

Sue Austreng is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it