Elks donate dictionaries to third graders

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Madera Elks members Doug and Kathy Row talk to a third grade class at Howard Elementary School about the uses of dictionaries. The Rows were joined by other Elks members in distributing dictionaries to all the third grade classrooms at the school on Nov. 16.

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The Madera Elks Lodge #1918 continued its tradition of handing out dictionaries to third graders for 26 schools in Madera and Chowchilla.

The lodge has been giving out dictionaries to more than 2,100 students since 2011.

The goal of this program is to assist all students in completing the school year as good writers, active readers and creative thinkers by providing students with their own personal dictionary.

Elks are part of “The Dictionary Project.”  As an Elks charity established to assist third graders in learning to read, this project has spread from a small town where it began to a national program — and the Elks are both serious sponsors and presenters.