Photo

For the fifteenth year in a row, the San Ramon Valley's six Rotary clubs have banded together to support literacy in local schools by giving a printed dictionary to every third grade student.

"Giving dictionaries to every third grader in the school district has become a long-standing tradition, and a viable way for each of the six clubs to unite on the common purpose of supporting literacy in our community," said Laura Day, District 5160 governor and a valley resident.

This year, the six Rotaries will distribute over 2,300 dictionaries -- one for each third grader in San Ramon Valley Unified's 21 elementary schools. The cost of the dictionaries, at $4,326, will be split between the clubs.

"It is amazing how students covet these dictionaries," said Terry Koehne, community relations coordinator for SRVUSD. "As a Rotarian and a parent in this community, I see, first hand, the value of this program. My own child is now a high school freshman and he still uses the dictionary he received in third grade."

The dictionaries will be hand-delivered by Rotarians this fall. The program was started by then-District Governor George E. Chaffey in 1997-1998.

Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.