Our annual signature project donates thousands of dictionaries to Dallas-area schools.
With a digital divide in low-income areas of Dallas, a paper dictionary can still be a valuable tool for children learning to read. Each year, Rotary Club of Dallas Uptown, with the help of District 5810 matching grant funds, purchases and distributes nearly 2,000 dictionaries to the third grade classes of multiple schools.
The goal of this program is to assist all students in becoming good writers, active readers, creative thinkers, and resourceful learners by providing them with their own personal dictionary. The dictionaries are a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come. Educators see third grade as the dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn.
The process is underway currently to purchase the dictionaries and plan their distribution for February 2022. In previous years, we delivered the dictionaries and presented them individually to each student. During the pandemic, we have made adjustments to our distribution plan. DISD Volunteer Services help to facilitate the distribution of dictionaries.