Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – To come up with words other than “generous” to describe the actions of the Presque Isle Rotary Club, third-graders in Robertine Morrow’s class at Zippel Elementary
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
PRESQUE ISLE ROTARIAN Sharon Campbell helps third-grader Emma Fortier locate a word in her new thesaurus. Fortier is a student in Robertine Morrow’s class at Zippel Elementary School. Last Wednesday, the Presque Isle Rotary Club donated thesauruses to third-graders at Zippel, Mapleton Elementary School and Easton Elementary School. The project began in 2006, and Campbell said to date roughly 800 third-graders have received the reference book.
School simply turned to their newly acquired thesauruses to find such words as “giving,” “unselfish,” “kind” and “bighearted.”
Last Wednesday, Rotarians donated thesauruses to third-graders at Zippel, Mapleton Elementary School and Easton Elementary School.
“Four years ago I was president of the Presque Isle Rotary Club, and as all presidents do, I was looking at our goals for the year,” said Rotarian Sharon Campbell. “Rotary International asked us to do literacy projects in our local communities. Literacy throughout the world – including our own neighborhoods – is a foundation of Rotary International.
“I got the idea from an article in the Rotarian magazine where another club had purchased dictionaries for students,” she said. “After doing some research of our own school system, it was decided to provide thesauruses to the children. Our goal was to give it to the children, so they could take them to fourth and fifth grades and get the value of the book and the value of the message … that somebody besides their parents and their teachers thinks that learning and literacy is important.”
Nearly 20 Rotarians distributed the books at Zippel, while five visited the Mapleton school and another three participated in Easton.
“We – as a club – are really good at raising money and we’re proud of that, but we don’t do a lot of hands-on projects,” said Campbell. “After doing this for the first time in 2006, our members asked, ‘Are we going to do this again?’ They were very excited about it and they could see that the kids were excited and that we were making a difference. Sometimes writing a check does not give you that same feeling, so based on the enthusiasm of our members, we’ve continued the project. It was about a $1,500 investment this year, but it’s well worth it.”
Campbell said while the club ordered more thesauruses than they truly needed – in case new students enroll – 135 were left at Zippel, 50 were donated to Mapleton students, while 20 were given to Easton third-graders.
“We think of ourselves as the greater Presque Isle Rotary Club,” she said. “Easton and Mapleton don’t have Rotary Clubs, but Mapleton encompasses SAD 1. We feel connected to those communities and have raised funds for those towns before, so it wasn’t a big stretch to include those children in our Thesaurus Project.”
Campbell’s daughter, Eleanor St. Peter, is a student in Morrow’s class. She said it was particularly nice having her Mom visit her classroom along with fellow Rotarians Richard Duncan and Jason Parent.
“I loved having her come in because she’s very special to me,” said St. Peter. “I’ll be able to use my thesaurus to find different words. I like to write and sometimes it’s hard to find the right word, so this will help make it easier to do that.”
“This is my first thesaurus,” said Jacob Calhoun, who is also in Morrow’s class. “When I have to write a report and I’m trying to find a different word to describe something, I’ll be able to look it up in my thesaurus. It was nice of the Rotary Club to give these to us.”
Teacher Llori Keirstead said Campbell approached her four years ago wanting to know what kind of text or informational book would be beneficial to a third-grader.
“In third grade, we are moving on from learning to speak and learning to read to learning to write, which is an emerging skill in grade three,” said Keirstead. “The students are just beginning dictionary skills and a thesaurus is a great tool for them to use in their writing so we picked a thesaurus. We chose one called, ‘A First Thesaurus,’ which is appropriate for an emerging writer.
“To have that text in front of them is really helpful because they don’t get stuck using ‘good,’ ‘nice’ or ‘happy’ … there are other words that they can integrate into their writing,” she said. “Some use it more than others because they’re more comfortable with using reference material; some take a little bit longer and they simply need more practice, so starting in grade three, it really helps build toward the use of it in fourth grade.”
Sherralyn Robbins, one of Keirstead’s students, said the thesaurus will help make her a better writer.
“I usually like to make my writing very interesting, so I think I’m going to use my thesaurus for that. I’ll look up really good words,” she said. “Instead of the word ‘good,’ I might use ‘perfect’ or ‘decent.’
“I like that we get to keep the thesauruses,” Robbins said. “I’ll be keeping it in my desk at school but I’ll also bring it home when I have a writing assignment. It’s really nice of the Rotary Club to do that for us. Thank you Rotarians!”
Campbell estimated that since the Thesaurus Project’s inception, roughly 800 third-graders have received the reference book, which features more than 2,000 entry words with synonyms and antonyms.
“I’m really happy that the club is engaged,” she said. “We’re more than a Monday noontime meeting, and I had even more Rotarians who would have liked to have come and distribute the books, but their schedules wouldn’t allow it. We’re roughly a 100-member club and I would say that I heard from at least half of them.
“The students and teachers appreciate what we’re doing, and we get a lot out of it, as well,” said Campbell. “It’s truly beneficial for all involved.”
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
WORKING TOGETHER – Jacob Calhoun, a third-grader in Robertine Morrow’s class at Zippel Elementary School, gets some help finding a word in his new thesaurus from Presque Isle Rotarian Richard Duncan. Last Wednesday, third-graders in SAD 1, as well as Easton Elementary School, received a free thesaurus courtesy of the Rotary Club. Nearly 20 Rotarians distributed the thesauruses at Zippel, while five visited the Mapleton school and another three participated in Easton.
