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Turning Pages of Possibility: The Nogales Rotary Club’s 20‑Year‑Old Dictionary Tradition
As a fresh-bound dictionary landed on each desk in a third-grade classroom at Nogales Elementary Schools, a chorus of delighted gasps and wide-eyed curiosity echoed around the classroom. As the Nogales Rotary Club guided the 150 eager students through the world of words, the book was more than just a book.
For more than two decades, the Rotary’s 3rd Grade Dictionary Program has been a staple of the community, delivering a dictionary to every third‑grader in the Nogales Unified School District. What began as a simple donation has blossomed into an interactive celebration of language, thanks to the club’s volunteer members who step into classrooms to show students how to wield their new tools.
“Seeing a child go from ‘I don’t know how to use this’ to ‘I can find any word I need’ is why we keep coming back,” said longtime Rotarian and President‑elect Sandra Davila. “It’s a small investment that pays dividends in curiosity, confidence, and community connection.”
Beyond the excitement of a new book, giving a child a dictionary plants a foundation for lifelong learning. When a student holds a dictionary in their hands, they are given a tangible map of language, one that allows them to explore spelling, pronunciation, and meaning at their own pace. That autonomy sparks curiosity; a question about a word on the playground can be answered instantly, and the answer is found without waiting for a teacher or a screen. The act of flipping pages, locating guide words, and reading definitions strengthens visual‑spatial skills and reinforces alphabetical order, a skill that underpins everything from library research to digital databases.
Research shows that children who regularly use a dictionary develop richer vocabularies and better reading comprehension. Each new word they uncover becomes a building block for more complex sentences, enabling them to express ideas with precision.
Moreover, the ritual of looking up a word, thinking about its spelling, checking the guide words, and reading the definition cultivates patience and critical thinking. It teaches students that answers are often just a few pages away, encouraging them to persist when faced with unfamiliar text.
The Nogales Rotary Club’s program also nurtures a sense of community and belonging. When Rotarians join students for fun activities such as trivia contests, word-hunt races, and friendly spelling bees, the lesson extends beyond the page. The volunteers model a love of learning, showing that education is a shared journey. For many children, the dictionary becomes a symbol of support from adults who care enough to invest time and resources in their futures.
The 3rd Grade Dictionary Program may be a tradition, but each year it feels like the first time, pages turning, minds opening, and a community coming together, one word at a time.
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