Oakman Elementary School third-graders show off the dictionaries given to them by the Dearborn Outer Drive Kiwanis Club as part of the club’s annual Dictionary Project. Oakman Prinicpal Radewin Awada (right) is congratulated by project chairman Dr. Jim Rugenski.
The Dearborn Outer Drive Kiwanis Club recently completed its third annual Dictionary Project, where the club gave third-grade students in Dearborn schools a personal dictionary to keep as a reference.
The main funding for the project came from the club’s Turtle Derby at Dearborn Homecoming, project chairman Dr. Jim Rugenski said.
The club and project sponsors believe that giving children dictionaries is like giving them sets of keys — tools that will unlock all the information there is to be gained from reading, Rugenski said.
“As adults we know how important it is to be able to read and write and understand how to communicate well, especially in a global economy,” Rugenski said. “The main focus of Kiwanis is on children. We want to help young people succeed in school and in life, and we know that third grade is a crucial time for students to learn to read effectively.
“Thanks to sponsors like Village Ford and Member Focus Credit Union, as well as some of the school PTA’s, we were able to give more than 1,600 kids in 27 Dearborn schools a dictionary to keep,” Rugenski said.