Above - Students of Milton Hershey School (Englewood SH) prepare dictionaries and Thesaurus for distribution.

At Monday’s meeting we heard an update on our 2020-2021 District Grant to provide dictionaries and thesaurus to 3rd and 5th graders at Hershey Elementary and Middletown Area elementary schools. This had been a project and passion for Mike McCormick, who passed away last Fall 2020. The pandemic had disrupted our ability to deliver the books to schools last Spring and with Mike’s passing we had lost track of the project. A big thank you goes to Rotarian Steve Ginter who volunteered to pick up the pieces and bring this project to completion. With the assistance of a Milton Hershey School student home, Hershey Rotary Club nameplates (that included the 4-Way Test) were inserted into 500 dictionaries and 500 Thesaurus. Steve worked with elementary school administrators to deliver the books and teachers will use the books to teach the basic skill of how to use a dictionary.

In this digital age, such books might seem to be obsolete. However, the teachers were very excited to receive the books. Knowing how to use a dictionary is still an essential skill. And there are many students in these school districts whose families can’t afford to provide their children with personal copies of a book. Thanks to all our club members who participated in this project.

In Rotary,

Pam Whitenack