Last Thursday afternoon, several members of the Standish Seniors gave 36 lucky Steep falls elementary school students a dictionary apiece to enjoy and use to expand their vocabularies.

The Standish Seniors purchased the dictionaries through the Dictionary Project with funds the organization raised. This is the first year they have given dictionaries to third grade students and hope to expand the program to eventually give all Standish third grade students a dictionary.

Over three million children have received a dictionary from volunteers who have participated in the Dictionary Project to provide a dictionary for the children in their community each year. One million dictionaries were given to students in the 2004-2005 school year as a gift from people who live in their town.

The Dictionary Project is a nonprofit organization. The goal of this program is to assist all students to complete the school year as good writers, active readers, and creative thinkers by providing the students with their own personal dictionaries. The dictionaries are a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come.

The program has been adopted and refined by civic organizations all over the country. Anyone can participate in this project by sponsoring a program to provide dictionaries to children in their community. The dictionaries are a gift for the children to keep.


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