Dictionaries for Third Graders

Pictured – Sunrise Rotarians Michael Rennie, Susy and Bill Allen, and Janna Markley present dictionaries to students at Painted Rock Elementary School.



Our Rotary Club recently donated dictionaries to several hundred third graders throughout the San Diego area in an effort to help in their education. This story was just sent off to the local newspapers explaining the project.

RB Sunrise Rotary Doesn’t Understand the word “NO”

Determined to continue improving lives at every age and income level throughout the community, 20 volunteers from the Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary Club recently fanned out across area elementary schools to distribute free dictionaries to third graders.

Project coordinator Steve Redd organized the effort in cooperation with the SoCal Dictionary Project. SoCal DP is dedicated to providing free English and Spanish/English bilingual dictionaries to all third grade students in the nation’s public schools. “We are very proud to have been involved in this excellent effort.” says Redd when noting this is the fifth year the RB Sunrise Club has worked with area schools in this way.

RB Sunrise Rotary distributed almost 1,350 dictionaries – one for every third grader at 11 San Diego-area elementary schools. 120 of these books were Spanish/English for students who are primarily Spanish speaking. This money was raised during the club’s recent Freedom Ride, an annual event generating in a single day approximately $40,000 for Rotary to return to the community through programs like the Dictionary Project.

Children at Dingeman, Ericson, Hage, Hickman, Jerabek, Mason, Midland, Painted Rock, Park Village, Valley, and Walker elementary schools benefited from the 2007 program. Redd reports efforts are already underway to raise money for the 2008 dictionary campaign.

The RB Sunrise Rotary meets each Tuesday morning at 7:15 am at the Country Club of Rancho Bernardo, 12280 Greens East Road, San Diego, CA 92128. Prospective members are invited to attend these meetings as guests of the club.

The public is also invited to review the blog of Paul Gorman, one of the club’s newest members, as he traces his adventure in joining and participating in Rotary. It can be found at www.redbadgerotarian.blogspot.com. Another blog, maintained by club publicity chair Rob Weinberg, is tracing a year of a more established Rotarian. That one – entitled THE ADVENTURES OF ROB THE ROTARIAN can be found at rbsunrise.blogspot.com/.

The Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary club can be found online at www.rbsunrise.org.