Rotary Distributes Dictionaries for Brooklake Elementary School Third Graders

“Habit” was the word of the day as several Florham Park Rotary volunteers visited Brooklake Elementary School on March 25.

What has become an annual habit for perhaps more than twenty years in a row, per Rotarian Past President Bob Feid, was the distribution of dictionaries to each of the Third Grade students, who personally received their own dictionary. Students were encouraged to write their names in their dictionaries, and were assigned the word of the day – “habit”.  Each searched for the word alphabetically in their dictionaries, and raising their hands to volunteer, one read the definition. Then volunteers were asked to use the word in a sentence. Interestingly, in three of the classes, students stated that “brushing their teeth after breakfast was a good habit”! 

One student pointed out that the longest English word was listed in their dictionary. We found it on page 373 and it was 1,909 letters!  One joked that was even longer than “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

Another curious student asked if the word “Constitution” was in the dictionary, whereupon we searched and confirmed that indeed it was, from pages 389 to 409. 

The Rotarians stressed the importance of having a dictionary and building vocabulary as one way of improving and in leading successful lives.

“As you continue your education, at different levels of schooling, building a good vocabulary will be the foundation of leading successful lives,” advised Peter Nicolas, Rotary Sergeant-at-Arms. “Your teachers, in the Third Grade now, and later in your educational careers, will work with you. These dictionaries, courtesy of the Florham Park Rotary Club, are just a tool – but an important one.  Learning new words, and how to use them, should be an exciting world of discovery for you. Have fun with it!” 

 In addition to word definitions and the Constitution, the dictionary also included Sign Language, a list of the United States Presidents and their bios, the latest list of planets (no Pluto!) and much more for students to explore in their own time.

As the students also learned, the Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and strive to build good will and peace in the world.  A group of nice people who meet once a week to make the world a little better place to live. 

George Gregor, Rotary President, shared one more tip when he suggested that everyone get a Library card.  He explained that kids just have to know how to spell their first and last names.  They would go in with their parents and would be given two cards – one for their wallet and a smaller one for their keychain. Then, whenever they get a book from the library and don’t know a word, they have their own dictionary so they can look it up!

To learn more about the Florham Park Rotary, visit www.florhamparkrotary.com and stop in at a breakfast meeting at the Florham Park Diner, held every Friday, from 7:47am-8:47am.