Last week members of the Lowell Rotary Club visited Lowell Area School 3rd grade students. Each month Rotary has a different theme. With September being Literacy Month, handing out a dictionary/thesaurus was a fitting topic for the club. Rotarian Jim White. heading up the project, said, “I will have a couple of Rotarians joining me as we personally hand each student their book (to keep). It is one way we can assist the school with the new third grade reading initiative and requirement from the State of Michigan.” Already monies from the passing of a county-wide millage are going toward reading and technology in the district. The Rotary initiative further enhances the importance of having the right tools for reading and writing.

In an society where technology is at the forefront it’s easy to search online for the definition of words. But there’s also something said to having the ability and skill to pick up a book and discover new words. This year’s 3rd grade students will have a book to keep and use for years to come. White told students at Cherry Creek Elementary the first thing they should do is put their name in their new book. He continued on to say they’d be able to use this resource for years to come. Curriculum Director, Nate Fowler also added he took a dictionary/thesaurus he was given to college. Third grade teachers also received a book to keep for their classroom.

In Alto White was joined by Nate Fowler.

Murray Lake was the second stop last week. Englehardt Library’s Branch Manager Heather Wood-Gramza and Flat River Outreach Ministries’ Executive Director Dawn Broene helped hand out books to students.