NEWS
MED Third Graders Receive Free Dictionaries from Rotary
Children were all smiles on November 3rd, when the Northern Columbia County Rotary donated dictionaries to every third grade student at the Mary E. Dardess Elementary School. Rotarian Ed Zaik, himself an MED parent, visited each third grade classroom to personally deliver the 
books into the hands of our young readers. The dictionaries were a gift for the students to use throughout the school year and to take home.
“You can write your name in it.” Zaik told the students as he handed out the books. “They are yours to keep.”
The Rotary makes a donation of dictionaries to MED third graders every fall. The goal of the program is to help students become active readers, good writers and creative thinkers. In third grade, students begin the transition from learning to read to reading to learn, and the dictionaries give students the added benefit of a large vocabulary and wealth of information at their fingertips.
“Our students truly enjoyed receiving their own dictionaries,” said MED Principal Kristen Reno. “This is a very meaningful donation and I would like to thank the Rotary Club for their continued support of our school.”