Dictionary project update in numbers........
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Literacy is a major focus of Rotary and contacts with a Rotary Club in Florida meant that we became aware of a district project where each Elementary student in their district is provided with a dictionary of their own as they graduate to 3rd Grade. We wanted more information and so invested in a sample of Canadian specific books to see whether they could become part of a literacy project here.
One of the publications from www.dictionaryproject.org is a Dictionary Gazetteer which had reached the end of its print run in 2015.There were unallocated books in Toronto and some were offered to us free of charge to distribute. Initially we were gifted a sample box of 24 books and then a further 3 pallet loads arrived with a further 146 boxes so in total 3528 books!
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We initially contacted the Halifax Regional School Board and asked their permission to distribute to 3rd grade students. They approved the book, and highlighted, in a school network bulletin, that we would be contacting schools directly. There are 90 Elementary schools in the HRSB district with grade 3 English students. Additionally where the HRSB had French Immersion grade 3 students books were only offered to English Curricular students as the school board roll call suggested we could only service these students with the number of books we had. We also contacted St Benedict Roman Catholic Church which has a large refugee programme and ESOL classes for immigrants, from Syria and other countries. Before distributing to schools we advised other Rotary Clubs in HRM of the project and also asked if they had any suggestions of other worthy destinations. All the books had a plate label inserted with the Rotary pledge and a space for students to write their name, along with the statement that it was a gift from the Rotary Club of Sackville and Area. |
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To date (23 March 2016) we have distributed books as follows.. 48 to Saint Benedict Roman Catholic Church for ESOL / Refugee programme – a classroom set and 24 for individuals. 48 to the Rotaract Club of Halifax for their charity book drive. 96 to a Rotary sponsored project in Cameroon for the Elementary school there. 24 to a Rotary sponsored school in Gambia. 24 to our Interact Club who are going to use them to connect with young people of a similar age who are new immigrants. 3139 to 79 Elementary Schools, which is a 95% penetration rate. They were all delivered with a covering letter from the club addressed to the students. A small number were given as samples (HRSB and Rotary District) or to sent to children outside Nova Scotia via Rotary Club Members. There are still 145 books remaining – we have contacted the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Halifax to see if they would be a useful resource in their homework clubs. If not then we will approach the Elementary Schools in the immediate catchment area of our club to offer them to 3rd Grade French immersion students. Estimated volunteer hours so far are 124 hours and deliveries covered a total distance of approx 1960km. |