Rotary District 5160

 
  1. Who Chose the Project? It was chosen by the Clubs, not the District. The District Governor and the Task Force helped implement the Project chosen by the clubs.

  2. Why are we giving dictionaries to third graders rather than other ages? Educators informed our Task Force that the 4th grade is the optimum grade for students to have dictionaries - when they are used heavily, and many lesson plans involve learning to use a dictionary. We are giving dictionaries to 3rd graders in May, right after the highly-publicized District Conference, so that they will have the dictionaries for their entire 4th grade school year.

  3. Who chose the dictionary? Is it a good one? After careful review, a committee of elementary school teachers made a short list of excellent and respected dictionaries appropriate to elementary school students. From that list, our Task Force negotiated the best possible price with Houghton Mifflin Co. for The American Heritage Children's Dictionary.

  4. Aren't books old-fashioned? Wouldn't it be better to give students a dictionary on CD-ROM or disk? No. Many students don't have computers. In some areas, less than 20% of the students have a dictionary in their home, let alone a computer. For them, a disk would be irrelevant. On the other hand, books are usable by 100% of the students. Also, parents in homes with computers have confirmed that kids still need and use book dictionaries - it is often easier just to pull down a book than to go to a computer, turn it on and search that way. Also, books will be dramatic and long lasting, while disks are less impressive looking, and have no room for labels or letters to parents.

  5. Why give books to children rather than giving them to the schools to be used by successive 4th grade students who pass through those schools? The key to this Project is the student's personal ownership of the dictionary...and the personal ties between Rotarian and student and between the Rotary club and the student's family. It makes the book and the relationship special to the student, the parents and grandparents, who may be very influenced in how they perceive Rotary. And it can affect those families for decades. Simply giving the books to the schools would not have nearly the impact on students or their families; we would not have visibility and we would lose the opportunity of becoming a part of the families' experience over the coming years. In addition, giving to the schools would mean that the books, and Rotary's image associated with it, would reach particular students for only one school year, rather than following the students, their siblings and family for many years. [Over 10,000 thank you letters from students were sent to Rotary clubs, which confirms the expected initial impact that resulted from the books being given directly to the students.]

  6. Why not give books only to low income students? Why give books to kids whose parents could afford it? We could not go into classrooms and give books to some kids and not to others. Also, we cannot realistically determine who is "poor" and who isn't, and to do so might stigmatize the recipient students as poor, which is not our intent. Our tie is with ALL of the students, the entire next generation, not just some of them. Besides, affluent parents, and related grandparents who may be business, professional or community leaders might be effective supporters of Rotary projects and possible Rotarians.

  7. Why give books to children in private schools? We are giving books to the next generation - regardless of their school, race, gender, income, religion or other factors. Many kids in private schools may be from families of modest means and are there because of religion, parental commitment or other factors, and it would be unfair to exclude them just because they made such a commitment. We are supporting children and their families, not schools, so we won't exclude children merely because of the school their parents placed them in.

  8. What if the students just take the books home and put them on a shelf? What good does that do? Dictionaries are an integral part of 4th grade curriculum, and for each school year thereafter. Teachers inform us that this is one of the most integral and important books used by students from the 4th grade on. Students cannot avoid dealing with dictionaries. Sooner or later the book will come off the shelf.

  9. What if the student loses the dictionary? Wouldn't it be better to give the books to the schools to keep? This is a risk with any item. The fact that the dictionary becomes the child's personal possession, and is also directed to the parents by way of the accompanying letter, makes it more likely that the book will be appreciated not only by the child, but by the parents - and that it will not be lost.

  10. This is an expensive project. Does this commit us to continuing similar projects with similar costs next year or beyond? No. This Project was chosen by the clubs long before the start of the year and any future project would likewise first go to the clubs to consider and decide upon. Therefore, other projects of such substance could occur only if the clubs specifically decided in the future that they want to do so.

  11. Why give dictionaries to kids this one year if we don't follow up in succeeding years? This single year Project will have an impact for years. It is so powerful that it will provide a dictionary not only to the recipient student, but to most other children in that family for years to come. Also, this Project may cause parents, grandparents and others to realize that dictionaries are important and make excellent gifts, thereby hopefully encouraging families to provide dictionaries to siblings. Clubs may decide to pursue follow up projects, but these will be decisions made by clubs after evaluating the impact of this Project. In any event, this is a powerful Project with a multi-year impact, so we should not shrink from completing it this year just because we are not planning to do it every year. For example, we don't decline to give scholarships to students simply because we cannot give them to every needy or deserving student or applicant - we do what we can each year.

  12. Why should our club pay for so much when we don't have very many students compared to some other areas? Since the Project is District-wide, the Task Force felt it was fairer for all clubs and their Rotarians to share an equal financial burden. We took the estimated cost of all books and divided it by the number of Rotarians throughout the District to get an estimated cost per Rotarian, and asked clubs to pay their share of the overall effort based on the number of Rotarians in their club. In this way, everyone contributes equally; poorer areas with more kids do not pay a higher cost per Rotarian, and wealthier areas with fewer students do not pay a smaller share per Rotarian. Regardless of the number of students in their area, all clubs benefit, by being part of a District-wide effort, and by getting all needed books at a cost negotiated by the District far lower than any club could negotiate on its own.

  13. What if I don't have any children or grandchildren in school? Why should I be concerned with this Project? This is your Project to help your community - the children of your community. It also may help your Rotary club, by generating community support for its many projects and by encouraging parents and community leaders to become Rotarians.