On June 3, during a meeting of the Central Kitsap School District (CKSD) Board of Directors, members of the Rotary clubs of East Bremerton, Silverdale and Silverdale Sunrise were recognized for their donation of 805 dictionaries to CKSD elementary students.
The Rotaries donated one dictionary for each third-grade student in CKSD and said the donation was in “support of the district’s goal of ensuring that all students achieve grade-level reading expectations by the end of third grade.”
CKSD Superintendent Greg Lynch said the importance of reading proficiency, especially by the third-grade level, is a matter of success and failure.
“Studies show that reading at grade level by the end of third-grade indicates an 85 percent predictor of success for the remainder of a student’s time in the K-12 education system,” he said. “We are focusing on this goal specifically because reading is a primary skill that is essential as we work toward our mission of ‘All Students Learning Well.’”
Lynch expressed his gratitude to the local rotaries for their support of the district.
“We are tremendously grateful for the support of our local Rotaries in this effort,” he continued. “Our students are fortunate to live in a community which fosters high expectations and is willing to support and reward the achievement of those expectations.”
Paulette Thomas, a third-grade teacher at Emerald Heights Elementary school, said the dictionaries will get used.
“The children’s dictionaries were an amazing gift from the community,” she said. “We spent a week going over dictionary skills and the kids were excited to get them.”
John and Alexis, two students from Thomas’ class, said their parents don’t tell them what words mean or how to spell them anymore.
“My dad just spells out d-i-c-t-i-o-n-a-r-y now if I ask him how to spell a word,” John said.
Nancy Loeffelholz, Emerald Heights PECE Coordinator, said the books were great for kids of this age.
“These books are perfect for third-graders,” she said. “We all really appreciate the Rotary for this donation.”
