Steve Cordle
ECB Publishing, Inc.
It has been theorized that the average vocabulary stops growing at age 25. It has been shown that a deep or lengthy vocabulary is necessary to be successful in life, and the younger we can start building our vocabulary, the greater it can be. To that end, many organizations such as Kiwanis Clubs have provided dictionaries to students for several decades.
This year the Monticello Kiwanis Club continued the tradition of taking dictionaries to the third-grade classes at Somerset and Aucilla. Somerset's three classes received their dictionaries in class on Wednesday, Nov. 4, and Aucilla on Thursday, Nov. 5. In this age of Kindle and other electronic media, many forget that essential tools like dictionaries are needed. Even though we live in the electronic age, many people, including some Jefferson County residents, lack reliable internet access. Therefore, paper and ink copies of books, newspapers and other forms of literature are still needed.
The dictionaries are distributed to each third grader, and for many, it is a prized position. Often a student will relate how their older sibling received a dictionary and continues to use it. The distributing Kiwanis club members will usually give the students some dictionary trivia such as "what is the first word in the dictionary?" (trick question: "a" can be a word if used as an indefinite article; otherwise, it is "aardvark") Then the students are given a word or two to look up.
Floyd Faglie, Chair of the Kiwanis Club's Youth Outreach Committee, said that "one of our annual service projects is providing dictionaries to Jefferson county third graders." He further stated that "the mission of the Monticello Kiwanis Club is to provide assistance to the youth in our community through our not-for-profit Youth, Inc." The Monticello Kiwanis Club also sponsors sports teams, scout groups, mission trips and summer camps, as well as provides multiple college scholarships to local graduating seniors.
You must be logged in to post a comment.