Our sponsors have made tireless efforts to improve literacy and the quality of life in their communities. These volunteers are the breath of life of The Dictionary Project. Through The Dictionary Project, people feel empowered to affect change and improve education so that the children will grow up better prepared to compete in the global economy.

A Gift of Words
Late teacher`s family carries out her wish to give students dictionaries
By: Brien T. Boyce Daily Nonpareil Reprinted from Thursday, April 13, 2006
Donor: The Hutchinson Family

The office of Governor Chester Culver of Iowa has officially recognized Mr. Larry Hutchinson for his dedicated work on behalf of the Dictionary Project in Iowa.  Click here to read it.

Larry Hutchinson and his wife, Nancy, had discussed a project about handing out dictionaries to children, and Larry was re-inspired after he read an article about doing so.

Larry and Nancy had gotten as far as ordering the dictionaries, but Nancy died before the two of them could hand them out to the second-graders at her school, E.A. Kreft Primary.

Instead, Larry, along with the couple`s son, Tom, and daughter, Andrea, finished the task Wednesday morning.

`Mrs. Hutchinson loved helping students learn how to read, and helping students who already knew how to read become better readers,` Larry read from a letter. `Because of that, we want you to have your own dictionaries as a gift from Mrs. Hutchinson and us, so that you can look up the meaning of words.`

Nancy (Sims) Hutchinson , 49, died Feb. 11 at Jennie Edmundson Hospital . She was working as an instructional strategist at the school at the time of her death. She had worked in the Lewis Central School District since 1997.

`As a family, we decided to do this project,` Larry said.

Tom and Andrea, a senior and freshman respectively at Lewis Central High School , helped their father distribute more than 200 dictionaries to the eight classrooms of the second-graders. Wednesday`s event was part of The Dictionary Project, where children receive dictionaries as part of expanding their vocabulary.

More than 3 million children have received a dictionary from volunteers who have participated in The Dictionary Project; more than 1.1 million dictionaries were handed out during the 2004-2005 school year alone.

The goal of The Dictionary Project is to develop reading and creative thinking abilities, and to inspire students to look up words in a dictionary.

As the Hutchinsons , accompanied by Principal Barb Grell, made their way into each classroom, some of the second-grade teachers fought back tears as Larry read his letter to his students.

`It`s one of the most wonderful gifts a child could receive,` said second-grade teacher Joyce Barney. ` Nancy is definitely missed.`

Janet Lech, a reading teacher who shared a classroom with Nancy for seven years, came in from her maternity leave long enough to see the Hutchinsons distributing the dictionaries.

Even in death, Nancy `s work still benefits the students and teachers, Lech said.

`She touched so many lives when she was here. I learned so much from her love of learning. It`s wonderful to see (her family) finishing up this project to benefit the kids.`

Volunteers win state awards
By: Spring Branch Independent School District STARNews
- Donor: Ormonde and Margaret Smith

The Smith family celebrates with award winners Ormonde and Margaret

Spring Branch senior volunteers and several neighborhood churches have won top state education awards from the Texas Association of Partners in Education (TAPE). In all, SBISD partners earned six awards this year.

Named Top Senior Volunteers are Ormonde Smith, 91, and his wife Margaret, 87, who earned a Gold Award from the state association. The Smiths have worked tirelessly to distribute student dictionaries to all Spring Branch third graders through the Dictionary Project.

Ormonde`s volunteer involvement reaches back many years to the popular Help Us Grow (HUG) tutoring program at Housman Elementary. With help from Housman volunteer tutors, Ormonde first raised funds to pay for student dictionaries. For the past two years, the couple has given dictionaries to all district third graders.

`I feel honored to be recognized for volunteer work like this. I had no thought of earning an award when we began. A dictionary can be a tool for learning for the rest of a student`s life,` Ormonde said.

During a recent stop at Woodview Elementary School , he told students that age is no barrier to giving. `I feel like a third grader,` he said. `This dictionary is your tool to read better, and you all need to read well because reading is the basis of what you will do for the rest of your lives.` Read the full story here.

Third-Graders Receive Dictionaries
Dunn Daily Record - Donor: David and Anne Hobson

Third-graders at 10 Harnett County primary and elementary schools recently received new paperback dictionaries, which were donated by David and Anne Hobson of Pinehurst, formerly of Dunn.

The 1,400 `Webster`s Dictionary for Students` were donated by the Hobsons in honor of Hobson`s mother, Alese Hobson, and in memory of his father, Mack Hobson, both natives and lifelong residents of Harnett County.

Mr. Hobson said that, when he was growing up, he and his brothers and sister were fortunate to have parents willing to sacrifice for themselves so that their children could have virtually every learning resource and opportunity available at the time.  `I have been lucky, and I felt that I wanted to recognize my parents` foresight and generosity and to give something back to the community,` he said.

`I remember that, as a child, my parents would drive me over to the Hobsons` to do research for school projects,` said Anne Hobson, daughter of Jesse and Allene Alphin of Dunn.  `The Hobsons had an extensive library of encyclopedias, dictionaries and other resource books--books we couldn`t even find in the school library,` she said.

Anne Hobson said it was rewarding to see smiles on the faces and delight in the eyes of the students as they received their own personal copies of the dictionary.

David Hobson said that the idea of giving dictionaries to third-graders stems from a South Carolina nonprofit organization, known as The Dictionary Project, whose mission is to donate dictionaries to children and encourage them to learn new words so that they will be able to use the English language effectively.

Letter from Linda G. Keetch

Michael Gamber and Virginia Gamber Hanks Memorial Grant

Linda Keetch shares the dictionary with students in the Lucia Mar district.

My husband and I recently distributed over 850 dictionaries to the teachers and third-grade students of the Lucia Mar Unified School District on the Central Coast of California.  We visited over 40 classrooms at 11 elementary schools.

I spent a few minutes telling each class that my father had come to the United States from Italy with only his first language, Italian.  He learned English in school, and he always loved both of his languages.  He studied English all of his life, and he often read the dictionary to learn something new.  Many of the students in the Lucia Mar District are bilingual, and I hope my father`s story will let them know what a gift it is to speak in two languages.

The students thanked us while we were in the classrooms, and many of them have also written to us.  One girl wrote in her letter, `I will become smart with this dictionary.`  Several others told us that their dictionaries will help them become scholars.  If the students use their dictionaries, they will indeed become smart scholars.  That will make my husband and me very happy.

Third grade receives gift of dictionaries

By: Moe Bohannon Oakes Times / Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Donor: Woody and Jean Gulsvig

Third graders in Oakes Public School are shown with their new dictionaries. Also shown are third-grade teachers Mrs. Gemar and Mrs. Miller, and Woody and Jean Gulsvig, who donated the dictionaries.

`We had four children and three grandchildren graduate from Oakes Public School, and we feel we want to give back to the School in gratitude for their education,` stated Woody and Jean Gulsvig.

The Gulsvigs have begun a tradition on this day, Thursday, September 6, 2007, of presenting each third-grade student with a dictionary.

Woody found out about this program from a Rotary Club in Arizona, where the Gulsvigs go for the winter months. The program is called the Dictionary Project and is based in Charleston, South Carolina. The Gulsvigs stated they will continue the program as long as they are able and then hope someone will take over from them.

The third-grade students and their teachers, Mrs. Gemar and Mrs. Miller, were very excited and pleased with the gift. Many of the youngsters came up to the Gulsvigs and thanked them personally for the gift.

The gift is not just a dictionary; it also contains many facts the students can use as they continue their education. Each student was also given a quiz to take and turn in to their teachers.

Letter from Peoria, IL

Dear Mary,

My wife, Johnnie, and I are in our eighties. Married for sixty years, we are not parents. Our experiences with children are with nieces and nephews (now themselves parents) and with other people's children. Our decision to spend $1,100.00 for the Dictionary Project has brought us more pleasure than any expenditure we've made. I enclose selected responses from dictionary recipients .. All those responses are precious to us….Lastly, Mary, I acknowledge my father's devotion to our language. His continued insistence on my using our language correctly while I was growing up has enriched my life. Peoria , IL

Click here to view the letter and the pictures enclosed

Retired teachers give 328 books to third-graders
Jim Collar - POST-CRESCENT EAST - 11/23/2007

KIMBERLY - - The first word Kimberly's third-graders may want to look up in their new dictionaries falls under the letter T.

Thanks.

Kimberly residents Chuck and Lea Rundquist donated one dictionary to each third-grade student in the Kimberly Area School District. The Rundquists purchased the books through the national Dictionary Project.

The purchase and distribu­tion of the books often is a project of service organiza­tions, but with no service groups to complete the project in the Kimberly area, the Rundquists decided to it themselves.

Both are retired teachers. Chuck Rundquist is a member of the district's school board.

"It's an excellent program," Lea Rundquist said. "I'm just excited about it."

Students at Kimberly's West-side Elementary School gave a resounding thank-you to the couple last week when they handed a paperback dictionary to each student.

The dictionaries were de­signed specifically for third-graders. It's an age of transi­tion, Chuck Rundquist said, when children move from learning to read to reading to learn.

The couple needed 328 dictionaries for the entire district.

Referring to the cost, Lea Rundquist noted her husband's upcoming three-month teaching job in Kaukauna.

"His paycheck's already been put aside," she said with a laugh.

Chuck Rundquist walked Westside's third-graders through the book before distributing them. The dictionary includes presidential biographies and the periodic table of elements.

He directed children to the last page of the book, which featured the longest word in the English language. It took up the entire page.
One child asked if he could pronounce it. "Absolutely not," Rundquist said, drawing laughter.

The Dictionary Project began in 1995. Nearly 7 million children have received a dictionary as part of the program. Kaukauna third-graders recently were given dictionaries as part of a project by the Elks Club.

According to the Dictionary Project, the goal is to increase reading ability and comprehension, and to encourage children to use dictionaries to grow their English skills.

Kimberly youngsters were excited to receive theirs.

The students immediately began flipping through the paperbacks with smiles on their faces as they were ushered back to their classrooms.
"It's a very small thing to do to give back to this district," Chuck Rundquist said.

Lea Rundquist said the value of what the children gain from the book will far exceed the cost.

"If we can, we're going to do it every year," she said.

Photo Credit: CHUCK AND LEA RUNDQUIST of Kimberly distribute dictionaries to third-graders at Westside Elementary School last Wednesday.

Dear Mr. Utchen, thank you for the dictionary. I learned from a dictionary that VISA has another meaning than checking card." Wheaton, IL

All third graders in District 200 can look up the word `generous` thanks to retired Wheaton resident Ted Utchen. For the past five years, Utchen has given every third grader a manageably sized, soft cover dictionary which includes maps, tables and other educational information.

Utchen began handing out the dictionaries in 2003 after reading a Wall Street Journal story about Mary French and The Dictionary Project. French founded the non-profit organization, which gives children dictionaries, in 1996. Sponsors can obtain dictionaries through the organization at a reduced cost to give to children in the community of their choice. The program has grown, and more than 5,142,588 dictionaries have been given to children since the first year. In 2006 alone, 1,939,536 dictionaries were given to students by individuals or groups. Foundations and civic organizations like Rotary Clubs have joined in the effort in many towns across the United States .

Utchen personally covers the $2 sponsorship cost per dictionary. In 2006, he gave 1,005 dictionaries to students, and this year he gave out 933. He also generously gives his time to this project by visiting each of the district`s 44 third-grade classes over a one-month period. He challenges the children to become regular users of the dictionary through a 30-minute presentation. `If we can get children started using the dictionary when they are young, it can help them to grow,` he explains. `So much of life consists of communication. I am a retired vice-president and general counsel of a Chicago corporation, and one of my concerns used to be the amount of written material I would receive from adults with misspelled words.`

During his presentation, Utchen tells students that he grew up without a computer and had to struggle to learn to use one when he was much older. He then points out that learning to use the dictionary at a young age will be easier than waiting until they are older. `Every year, I get thank you notes from the children, and one or two students will offer to come teach me how to use my computer,` he fondly recalls.

Utchen shares the story of his work in hopes that sponsors from other communities will become part of The Dictionary Project and distribute even more dictionaries. He is willing to help individuals or groups establish contact with non-profit organizations. `This is a worthwhile thing to do,` he notes. `It can make a difference in children`s lives.`

Why We Work in South Carolina

We wanted to understand why The Dictionary Project, which has been well received in most states, was virtually ignored in South Carolina for years.  Every third-grade student in South Carolina public schools has received a dictionary for the past eight years, thanks in part to donations from people all over the country and Rotary Clubs in Districts 7770 and 7750.  Unfortunately, we have not found local sponsors in much of the state.  We believe that these pictures of schools in South Carolina clearly demonstrate that the people responsible for making education policy and funding decisions in this state do not understand the value of education, or grasp that it is an integral part of a prosperous economy.

Corridor of Shame ( http://www.dictionaryproject.org/corridor_of_shame.asp )

Recently the  former superintendent of Charleston County schools had this to say about the school district:

http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/jun/14/pointed_words_good_feelings/ (click on link to open)

It wasn't until 1992 that standardized tests were mandated by the state of South Carolina  and administered to the students to evaluate the level of education each child received in school. The test scores validated the SAT scores already on record that ranked South Carolina 50th in the nation. SAT scores in South Carolina are rising more quickly than those of the nation as a whole, but are still well below the national average. South Carolina average scores in 2007 were 488 Critical Reading , 496 Mathematics, and 475 Writing; United States average scores in 2007 were 502 Critical Reading , 515 Mathematics, and 494 Writing. (The SAT scores on a 200-800 point scale in each subject area.) The percentage of students meeting state standards in Language Arts on the 2007 Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test (PACT) is over 85% for third graders, but falls for higher grades, to just 71% of eighth graders who meet standards. PACT scores also show significant racial disparities: While 67% of white students score proficient or advanced in Language Arts, only 38% of African-American students attain such scores. High school graduation rates, depending on the methodology used to compute them, show that somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of entering ninth graders will fail to graduate within four years. This rate is among the worst in the nation. Overall graduation rates reported by the South Carolina Department of Education have fallen every year since 2003.

(Statistics are available on the South Carolina Department of Education website, www.ed.sc.gov . Other graduation-rate studies are at http://www.unitedhealthfoundation.com/shr2004/components/hsgrad.html and http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_baeo_t2.htm .)

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