Ann Brignola visits Cheshire Rotary Club

By: Ann Brignola e-mail
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Donor: Rotary Club of Cheshire

Ann Brignola, of the Bridgeport Rotary Club, is helping to spread the word about The Dictionary Project to all of the Rotary Clubs in Connecticut. Recently she visited the Cheshire Rotary Club, talked to them about The Dictionary Project, and learned about their literacy projects at the local library.

Glastonbury Grange #26

By: Kathryn Ruff Letter
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Donor: Glastonbury Grange #26
Category: Pictures

During the past several years, the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club has used proceeds from its annual auctions to help the following local causes and organizations: funded scholarships for students at Fitch Senior High School, Ledyard High School, the Ella T. Grasso SoutheasternTechnical High School and a special scholarship to an adult continuing his education; monetary grants to local organizations, including the Fairview Odd Fellows Home, Tercentennial Legacy Playground Project, Groton Public Schools, Riverfront Children`s Center, Ella Grasso Skills USA Chapter, Town of Groton Human Services, special dinners at the Groton Senior Center, and spon...

Rotarians give to Catholic schools

By: - The Catholic Transcript
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Donor: Rotary Club of North Haven

Stephanie, a student at St. Stephen School in Hamden, thanks North Haven Rotary Club`s Nick Casella, left, and Brian Coughlin for dictionaries the Rotarians donated to all third graders at the school in October. The Rotary Club expanded its annual giving of dictionaries, normally only provided to third graders in the public schools in North Haven, by including students at St. Stephen and St. Rita in Hamden as well. Although North Haven is home to three Catholic parishes, St. Barnabas, St. Frances Cabrini, and St. Therese, it does not have a Catholic school in the town. Mr. Coughlin is chairman of the dictionary project, which aims to promote ...

Books give children 'a leg up'

By: Eleanor Ball Colchester Bulletin
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Donor: Fred and Robin Brown

Fred and Robin Brown wanted to give back to the community. But rather than write a check, the couple passed out dictionaries.

For the fifth year, the Browns purchased a dictionary for every third grader in town. They distributed 247 books Oct. 16--Noah Webster`s birthday--at Jack Jackter Intermediate School.

`We`re fans of lifelong learning, and good vocabulary is important,` Fred Brown said. `The Colchester budget is cut every year. They need a leg up.`

A Student`s Dictionary is the name of the publication, and it is far from a simple dictionary.

Several other subjects are included in the volume: Biographie...

Grange shares letters from happy students in S. Glastonbury

By: Kathryn Ruff letter
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Donor: Glastonbury Grange # 26

Here is a picture of the students at Nayaug Elementary School in South Glastonbury receiving dictionaries from members of Glastonbury Grange # 26.

They were a very happy and appreciative group of children.

These letters are three of the many that we received from the class.

A special delivery from Rotary

By: Walter Kidd The New Milford Times
Friday, October 31, 2008
Donor: Rotary Club of New Milford

Members of the Rotary Club of New Milford brought their annual deliveries of dictionaries to third-grade students at the town`s three elementary schools, including Hill & Plain School, this week.

The Rotary`s newsletter, Nairator, notes: `A total of 432 dictionaries were deliverd to their new owners, and an additional 24 Spanish to English copies were given to the teachers of the classes, to assist them in their teaching. This ongoing program continues to get rave reviews.`

Gifts will help students become better patrons of Rockville Library

Monday, August 04, 2008
Donor: Friends of the Rockville Library

The Friends of the Rockville Library donated dictionaries to all of the third graders in the public and parochial schools in Rockville and Vernon.

Rotarians donate dictionaries

By: - Journal Inquirer
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Donor: Rotary Club of East Windsor

The East Windsor Rotary Club recently presented all third-grade students with their own personalized dictionaries at the Broad Brook School in East Windsor.  This is the third year the Rotarians have performed this community service.  They have distributed more than 300 dictionaries to students and their teachers in both third and fourth grades.

Friends of Cossitt Library deliver dictionaries

Monday, October 01, 2007
Donor: Friends of Cossitt Library

The Friends of Cossitt Library give dictionaries to the third-grade students at Kelly Lane and Wells Road Intermediate Schools in Granby each year.

Ekonk Grange donates dictionaries

By: Chris Owen The Reminder News
Friday, September 28, 2007
Donor: Ekonk Community Junior Grange

Spelling tests won`t be so difficult for students in two third grade classes at Sterling Community School.

On Wednesday, Sept. 19, two members of Ekonk Grange surprised the students in Mrs. Glaude`s and Mrs. Schena`s classes with dictionaries that were donated by the Grange.

The 40-plus third graders waited anxiously in Mrs. Schena`s classroom - at desks or on the rug in front of the white board - for the `The Best Dictionary for Students` to be delivered.

As the dictionaries were handed out, students eagerly began putting their names in the front cover. `I think we will use it for spelling,` said Holly, 8 as she fli...

Cawasa Grange gives dictionaries

Thursday, May 31, 2007
Donor: Cawasa Grange #34

Members of the Cawasa Grange presented dictionaries to the third graders at Cherry Brook Elementary School in Canton.

Rotary gives every 3rd, 4th and 5th grader their very own dictionary

By: Don Hallquist The East Hartford Gazette
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Donor: Rotary Club of East Hartford

One of the goals of Rotary International in 2007 is improving literacy.

The Rotary Club of East Hartford--through its president, Dan Larson, and board--supported this International goal to help meet the needs of local students.

Monday, members of the East Hartford Rotary donated dictionaries to each third grade elementary school student. These dictionaries are inscribed with the child`s name and are theirs to keep.

According to Rotarian Don Hallquist, one member felt that the town`s fourth and fifth grade students would feel slighted, so stepped forward and donated funds for an additional 1,100 dictionaries. That wa...

Dictionaries a part of Rotary District 7890 project in Guatemala

By: Geoffrey Naab
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Donor: Rotary Club of Manchester

Dear Geoff:



As Chairperson for this project, I want to express my sincere appreciation for your generosity in contributing twenty-four Spanish-English dictionaries to the school in this village. As you saw from the photographs I passed around at last Tuesday`s Rotary meeting, the teachers were proud to display the dictionaries – even as a representative group of children were given basketballs and soccer balls.



Certainly, the importance of bringing water to each of the 52 homes cannot be underestimated. However, education should be considered an equivalent goal and your donation...

Third Graders Learn the Definition of `Giving`

By: Linda R. Goodman Darien News-Review
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Donor: Darien Rotary Club

Learning new words and their definitions is part of an elementary school student`s daily life. What fun it can be to look up the capital of a state and read about its history!
Want to find out how to `sign` something to a friend who might not be able to communicate otherwise? Know what the longest word in the human language is?
Don`t be jealous, but the town`s third-grade classes are getting the chance to gain a whole wealth of knowledge from one single book with the help of a local organization. The Darien Rotary Club has joined a nationwide initiative, simply called The Dictionary Project, to give third-graders in the country a di...

Woman`s Club receives thanks from principal

By: Sr. Marialice Ackermann
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Donor: New Haven Woman`s Club

Dear Mary Jane,

I want to thank you and all of the members of the New Haven Woman`s Club for the dictionaries, atlases, thesauri and workbook on how to use them that you gave to our third graders. It was so nice of you to give a set to each student in the third grade here at St. Rose of Lima School. It was so very thoughtful of you to think of the children here and of the real need that we have for books such as these. The children are using all of the books but really enjoy the atlas. I think this is a book they had never been exposed to and really enjoy looking to see where countries and cities are located that they read or hea...

Norwalk company helps spread the words

By: Chris Bosak, Hour Staff Writer The Hour
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Donor: Federal Street Press

NORWALK--Improving language skills should not be cost prohibitive, according to the folks at Federal Street Press.

A division of Merriam-Webster, Rowayton-based Federal Street Press is dedicated to developing and distributing low-cost dictionaries, reference books and crossword puzzle books. Included in its official mission statement is the following: Deliver all our books at the most affordable prices for everyone.

`We saw an opportunity to put low-priced dictionaries in the hands of people who really need them—and want them,` said Deborah Hastings, publisher of Federal Street Press. `We offer a lot of information f...

Kids have their own dictionaries, thanks to Rotarians

By: Donna Christopher The News-Times
Friday, December 22, 2006
Donor: Rotary Club of Danbury Sunrise

`On the very last page, there`s a map,` said Tate, flipping through pages of a new dictionary—his personal copy.

Every third grader—250—at the Rockwell and Berry schools received new dictionaries donated and distributed by the Rotary Club of Danbury Sunrise. One of two Danbury Rotary Clubs, the Sunrise group meets in Bethel every Friday.

Although the classrooms have sets for the students to share, having their own copy may make them `more apt to use them,` suggested Bobbi Maunsell, a Rockwell teacher. `These are just for them. They can write their names on them, take them home. Third grade is the year t...

Colchester students discover value of language

By: Julie A. Varughese Norwich Bulletin
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Donor: Fred & Robin Brown

COLCHESTER -- Noah Webster must be smiling in his grave.

Third-graders at Jack Jackter Intermediate School flipped through dictionaries they received for free in honor of the district`s second annual Dictionary Day, which was created to celebrate Webster`s birthday.

Webster, a lifelong resident of Connecticut from 1758 to 1843, created the first dictionary in America, standardizing American spellings for English words.

Fred Brown, owner of Wyndham Price Agency in Colchester, and his wife, Robin, donated 237 dictionaries. Brown said he got the idea from the Rotary Club, which hands out free dictionaries to th...

Third graders get dictionaries

Friday, December 01, 2006
Donor: Friends of the South Windsor Public Library

Thanks to Friends of the South Windsor Public Library, the town`s third graders each have their own dictionaries.

Mary Martin, a member of the Friends, heard about the project and suggested it to the group. About 380 dictionaries were purchased through The Dictionary Project, a program that began in Savannah, Georgia, when Annie Plummer decided to give 50 dictionaries to children in a school near her home. In her lifetime she raised the money to buy 17,000 dictionaries. The Dictionary Project is now a nonprofit organization, and more than 4 million children have received dictionaries through it. The program has been adopted by civic ...

Dictionaries Spell Literacy
Local Rotary Club giving the reference book to all third-graders in city
By: Karin Crompton theday.com
Monday, November 13, 2006
Donor: New London Rotary Club

New London — What`s a 1,109-letter word for the chemical formula of a certain, crazy-named enzyme?
You won`t find it here.
But if you ask a New London third-grader, they can find it by flipping to the last page of their dictionary — the one they own, courtesy of the local Rotary Club.
The club is giving a dictionary to every third-grader in the city, including those in magnet and private schools, through a nonprofit program called The Dictionary Project. According to the program`s Web site, about 1.5 million dictionaries were given to children in the 2005-06 school year as a gift from people who live in their town.
The ...

Colchester students discover value of language

By: JULIE A. VARUGHESE Norwich Bulletin
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Donor: Wyndham Price Agency, Fred and Robin Brown

Third-graders at Jack Jackter Intermediate School flipped through dictionaries they received for free in honor of the district`s second annual Dictionary Day, which was created to celebrate Webster`s birthday.
Webster, a lifelong resident of Connecticut from 1758 to 1843, created the first dictionary in America, standardizing American spellings for English words.
Fred Brown, owner of Wyndham Price Agency in Colchester, and his wife, Robin, donated 237 dictionaries. Brown said he got the idea from the Rotary Club, which hands out free dictionaries to third-graders across the country.
Third-grader Karina said she doesn`t have a ...

Cawasa Grange presenting dictionaries to 3rd graders at Cherry Brook School

Thursday, April 06, 2006
Donor: Cawasa Grange

The Cawasa Grange #34 of Collinsville, CT presented over 100 dictionaries to local shool children.

Dictionaries donated to fourth-graders

By: BRENDA SULLIVAN Staff Writer
Friday, February 10, 2006
Donor: Friends of the Library, CT

ANDOVER — Beginning this week, the Andover Friends of the Library are making copies of the `Webster`s Encyclopedic Dictionary for Students` available free of charge to every Andover Elementary School fourth grader.

The Friends believe that reading is the most important skill of all, and that a dictionary is the first and most powerful reference tool that a child should own,` said the group`s president, Dianne Grenier.

`Children crave new words... A strong vocabulary is an essential tool for their life`s journey, and the dictionary project will provide Andover students with an opportunity to ex...

The New Milford Rotary Club distributes dictionaries to third-graders

By: Oscar Rassmussen letter
Monday, January 23, 2006
Donor: New Milford Rotary Club, CT

Dear Ms. French:

Thank you very much for your letter regarding the New Milford Dictionary Project. We did indeed receive the additional 24 dictionaries and they were distributed the same day. I wish to thank you for the opportunity you have given the children who received the dictionaries and were so grateful and pleased.

The reception in a113 schools that the Rotary visited was overwhelming. The children, faculty, and administration were very appreciative of the gift. Enclosed are some pictures from newspaper articles with some very happy, smiling faces! The letters from the children were funny and expressed their appre...

A tool for Learning

Monday, January 23, 2006
Donor: New Milford Rotary Club, CT

Members of the New Milford Rotary Club distributed dictionaries to third-graders at the Northville School Wednesday.

Rotarians give dictionaries to North Haven third-graders

By: Tiffany Aron The North Haven Citizen
Friday, January 20, 2006
Donor: North Haven Rotary Club

Third-graders in North Haven will no longer have to wonder whether `grammer` or `grammar` is the correct spelling of the word. They will be able to look the word up in a dictionary of their very own and improve their language skills in the process, thanks to a new program that was intro­ duced to students by members of the North Have Rotary, Club 6745, District 7980 on Jan. 18.

The Dictionary Project is a national, nonprofit initiative that encourages volunteers to donate dictionaries to students in their local communities, and when Rotary President Richard Bassett had heard that oth...

Free dictionaries thrill third graders

By: Robin DeMerell The News-Times
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Donor: Rotary Clubs of Danbury

DANBURY —Most children get excited over books with lots of colorful pictures. But the books that arrived at Park Avenue School on Friday afternoon had no pictures—and about 1,000 times more words.



When the Rotary Clubs of Danbury distributed 53 copies of `The Best Dictionary for Students` to the entire third grade, student teacher Theresa Rangel said it was like Christmas morning. `They were extremely excited. It`s amazing to see children excited about something with no pictures,` said Rangel, a student at Western Connecticut State University . `I could hardly get them to shut them. It w...

Cawasa Grange of Connecticut donates dictionaries to local third graders.

Sunday, February 13, 2005
Donor: Cawasa Grange

Pictures of Cawasa Grange donations.

BRIDGEWATER - There`s always room for the Grange.

Saturday, January 01, 2005
Donor: The Bridgewater Grange

Thursday morning, May 6, Chris Shook proved it.
Talking to third graders in Burnham School, she told them, `If you can grow a flower or vegetable on your plot of ground, you`re a farmer . . . and I`m sure you`re all good Grangers.`

Ms. Shook was at the school along with Dee and Wally Domroe, Betsy Adams, and Grange Youth Chair Cindy Bennett to give dictionaries to students as part of a national Grange community activity.

The Dictionary Project, which started in 1995 by Mary French in South Carolina and is now becoming a national movement, aims to put a new dictionary in the hands of every third grader - the year in sch...

The Gift of Words

By: Becky Coffey Harbor News Staff Writer
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Donor: Old Saybrook Rotary Club

WESTBROOK - Sitting in eager anticipation, the students of Mrs. Cloutier`s class at Daisy Ingrahm School in Westbrook paid close attention to Charlie Norz as he spoke from the front of their classroom.

He spoke of Rotary Club International and of the charitable work of the Old Saybrook, Old Lyme, and Westbrook. And in particular, he spoke to them of the dictionaries for third-grade students throughout the three Rotary Club towns.

`The dictionary program is a national Rotary Club program, but our Old Saybrook chapter is the first one in Connecticut to participate,` said Norz.

As part of their program, the Rotar...