Philipsburg:--- For the fourth consecutive year the Rotary Club of St. Maarten is distributing dictionaries to grade 3 students in St. Maarten as part of our efforts to promote literacy. This year over 700 English dictionaries will be provided to students in 15 schools. On Thursday a team of six Rotarians presented students at St. Dominic's, Hill Side Christian, Rudy Labega, and Sister Magda schools with their dictionaries. The team included Rotarians Henna, Maria, Rebecca, Kishore, Damu, Nick, and Danny. On Friday another team of Rotarians presented dictionaries to MAC 1&2 as well as the new Cay Hill Hill Side school.
The Rotary Club of St. Maarten purchases special student dictionaries through the non-profit organization, The Dictionary Project.
Third grade students receive the dictionaries at this particular time in their formal education as most primary schools teach the children to use an English dictionary in the third grade. Through this effort, each student is the proud owner of what is often their first dictionary. Students are encouraged to take them home so that the entire family may benefit.
The Rotary Club of St. Maarten would like to thank Shams in Philipsburg for their assistance once again in making this project possible. A special thank you goes out to all of the children for their enthusiasm and beautiful smiles.