Rotary’s dictionary program continues

Published 10:45 am Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Sequim Noon Rotary has given new hard-bound dictionaries to all of Sequim’s fourth-grade students for the past 16 years.

The club’s dictionary project was started by Noon Rotarian Harry Hughes in 1999. Each year, the free books are presented to every fourth-grade student at Five Acre School, Greywolf Elementary School, Helen Haller Elementary School, Mountain View Christian School and Sequim Options (formerly Sequim Community School).

Over the years, Sequim Noon Rotary has given more than $34,000 in colorful new hardbound Houghton Mifflin dictionaries to Sequim school children. The books, Rotarians say, are important teaching tools to help fourth-graders learn English grammar and writing skills and to prepare them for Washington State grade-level testing.

Funds for the Harry Hughes Memorial Dictionary Project are raised by the Rotary Salmon Bake and Barbecue held at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club in August every year. Sequim Noon Rotary runs an Investment in Youth Program that includes student scholarship awards, the Raise-a-Reader Program, support for the Sequim Boys & Girls Club and many other benefits for local youth.

For more than 85 years, the Rotary Club of Sequim (aka Noon Rotary) has strongly encouraged educational programs and activities.

For more information, visit www.sequimrotary.org.