The Dictionary Project is a 501 (c ) (3) organization, created to provide a dictionary to students to help with their homework and their school work. A dictionary is an essential tool for a quality education. A student cannot do his or her best work without one. A child develops his understanding of the world and builds a frame of reference on what he or she knows, a dictionary provides the knowledge to better understand our world and the words to share information. Donations and contributions made by sponsors to the Dictionary Project are tax deductible. To sponsor a project Review the books below by clicking on the covers to view enlarged sample pages. Select the book(s) you would like to use for your Dictionary Project, then click here. The Sponsor a Project page gives you more information such as the cost of the dictionaries, the number of books in each case, and shipping information. You can sponsor a Dictionary Project online by making a contribution with a credit card or check. After you fill out the registration form, you will receive a letter acknowledging your contribution for your records. Your dictionaries should arrive in about two weeks.

Letters to Superintendent - As a courtesy to the Superintendent who is in charge of the school district where you want to implement the Dictionary Project, we recommend that you send a letter to introduce yourself and your idea to implement the Dictionary Project in a local school. Click here for a sample letter.

Letters to Principal - Contact the school principal to arrange a day to visit the school. Click here to read a sample letter that you can send to the principal to introduce yourself and the program.

Letters to Parents - You may want to give each student a letter to take home to their parents, that explains the program and the civic organization or business sponsoring the Dictionary Project. Click here to see a sample letter to the parents. The Malta-McConnelsville Rotary Club sent a distinguished letter to the parents when they did their project in Morgan County; click here to view that letter.

Points to make during your visit - When you visit with the students let them know that you are interested in their education and that you want to see them succeed. Click here for some examples of points to make while visiting the class.

Braille Dictionaries - Our sponsors occasionally ask us about getting Braille dictionaries for blind and visually impaired children.  Unfortunately, we do not have a good source for Braille dictionaries.  That's why we want to commend our sponsors who have gone the extra mile by searching out Braille dictionaries for children in the schools their projects cover.  Their kindness and concern inspire and enrich their communities.  They all emphasize that the joy of the children at receiving dictionaries they can read makes all the extra effort well worth it. Read their stories here.

Labels and Bookplates - Some organizations put a bookplate or label in the dictionary to let the children and their parents know who sponsored the program You can contact a local printer to make the bookplates or make the labels on a home computer. Click here to see samples of the labels used by other sponsors. Some groups have sticker parties to put the labels into the dictionaries.

Ancedotes - Some of our sponsors send us anecdotes of their projects and the classroom experience that they had. We have created a short page to list these; you can view it by clicking here.

Resources and How-To Manual - You can check this website that was created by Rotary Club of Ojai-West, an excellent resource for new sponsors and a 'How-to' guide for Rotary Clubs. Dwight Grotewold from Sun Lakes Rotary also shared with us a copy of their How To Manual for setting up The Dictionary Project for various clubs. Click here to view it (Word file).

Sample Kits - We will be happy to send samples of the dictionaries we are using for the Dictionary Project this year so that you can see the actual book. You may want to show the samples to school district officials to let them decide which dictionary should be used for the project. To receive a sample of the dictionaries, please send a check for $15.00 to The Dictionary Project, P O Box 1845, Charleston, SC 29402.