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Club Hopes Kids Become Wordsmiths

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By LOIS KINDLE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

APOLLO BEACH - Students at eight South Shore elementary schools recently received the gift of words from the SouthShoreR Rotary Club.

For the fifth year running, the club bought and distributed about 900 free, paperback dictionaries to fifth-graders at Apollo Beach, Bevis, Collins, Corr, Doby, Frost, Gibsonton and Ruskin elementaries as one of its annual community projects.

"One of the things the Rotary does is promote education," said Wesley Joiner, club president. "We give scholarships to seniors at East Bay High School, Lennard High School and the South County Career Center. We hand out the dictionaries to fifth-graders because we feel they can use them as they head to middle school.

"For some kids, it's the first book they get that's theirs."

Jaime Gerding, assistant principal at Apollo Beach Elementary, said 90 students received the books.

"With personal dictionaries, our students take the initiative to investigate words and use them in various settings without teacher instruction," she said. "As a school, we're honored to have an organization like the SouthShore Rotary take a vested interest in our students."

"Our students really benefit from this program," said Donna Marra, principal of Gibsonton Elementary. "Walking into the classroom after the presentation, I found students already using their dictionaries.

"We appreciate the SouthShore Rotary Club's support."

Money for the dictionaries was raised during events the SouthShore Rotary participates in, including the Apollo Beach Manatee Arts Festival and the Ruskin Seafood Festival. The club has 23 members.

For information on the SouthShore Rotary Club and its community programs, call Joiner at (813) 649-9400.

Reporter Lois Kindle can be reached at (813)865-1553 or lkindle@tampatrib.com.

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