THE DICTIONARY PROJECT

Riverhead 3rd Graders Receive Dictionaries from Kiwanis Club via The Dictionary Project

(September 2008 - Riverhead, NY) According to the Kiwanis Club, there are 4,170,598 third-grade students in the United States. Their goal is to make sure that every one of them receives a dictionary from a local chapter of Kiwanis. On September 25, the third graders at the Roanoke Avenue Elementary School, one of four elementary schools in the district, were the first third grade students to receive their paperback copy of Webster’s Worldwide English/Spanish, Spanish/English Dictionary.

On the inside cover of the dictionaries given to the third graders is a picture of and a special memorial tribute to Vincent Nasta, who was an illustrator of children’s books, taught art at the high school and was an aviator. Mr. Nasta was tragically killed when his plane crashed this summer during an aerial demonstration in an air show at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. Vincent and Carol Nasta, Mr. Nasta’s parents, were present to help distribute the dictionaries to the children. Also present for the gifting ceremony was Superintendent of Schools Dr. Diane B. Scricca, Deputy Superintendent Nancy Carney, Board of Education Member Ann Cotton-DeGrasse, Kiwanis Treasurer Thelma Booker, Kiwanis Secretary Louise Wilkinson, who is also the advisor of the RHS Key Club, a junior organization of the Kiwanis, and Mr. Harry Wilkinson, the President of Riverhead Kiwanis.

In addition to the Dictionary Project and many other efforts in the Riverhead community, “The Kiwanis Club of Greater Riverhead sponsors service projects such as raising funds to support the Open Arms Lunch Time Soup Kitchen Program that serves over 1,400 meals per month; provides food baskets for young families, participates in local scholarships, supports the community service projects of an award winning Key Club at Riverhead High School and supports the work of the Riverhead Community Awareness Program, a drug education and prevention program that has been in the Riverhead community for over 20 years.”  (Information taken from the Be Part of the Kiwanis Team brochure.)

Dr. Scricca extends her thanks on behalf of the district to the Kiwanis Club of Greater Riverhead, "We are so grateful for the relationship we have with Kiwanis. This was a wonderful contribution to our children's education and we thank the members of Kiwanis for their continued support of our children."

The students in Kathleen Horn's third grade class immediately put the dictionaries to use with a mini-lesson on dictionary usage.

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