Antioch Rotary Club expands annual project to give a dictionary to every third grader in town

Gloria Martin and Christine O'Brien present dictionaries to third graders at Kimball Elementary, last October. Photo by Minh Nguyen

Antioch Rotarians Gloria Martin and Christine O’Brien present dictionaries to third graders at Kimball Elementary, last October. Photos by Minh Nguyen

By Milanka Schneiderman

Every year, the Antioch Rotary Club has had a goal of providing every third grader in Antioch public schools with their own personal dictionary. This year, the club achieved their goal and every third grader will receive a hardbound dictionary that they may keep and use as their own personal reference book throughout their educational years.

Most children today do not own a personal dictionary and some do not have access to one in their home,” said Bernie Szalej, President of the Antioch Rotary Club. “The Antioch Rotary wants to reach out to these children in this small way to enrich their learning.”

Dr. Stacey Duckett and Club President Bernie Szalaj prepare the dictionaries for distribution.

Dr. Stacey Duckett and Club President Bernie Szalaj prepare the dictionaries for distribution on March 19.

The Dictionary Project encourages children to use dictionaries so that they will be able to use the English language effectively during their school years and lifetime.

Last year, the club’s Annual Golf Tournament and its sponsors were a huge part of the success of this year’s Dictionary Project along with recent contributions by Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Higgins Chapel.

Serving the Antioch community since 1947, the Antioch Rotary Club, one of 33,000 clubs throughtout the world is a non-profit service organization. The club has a reputation for excellence in community projects, from its free dictionaries for third-graders, coats for kids, to providing scholarships for our local high school graduates. The club also offers programs for high school students such as Interact and International Youth Exchange.

This year, the 22nd Annual Golf Tournament will be on May 1st at the Lone Tree Golf Course and Event Center.

Without our Annual Golf Tournament, we wouldn’t be able provide our programs and scholarships for youths in the Antioch schools; our children are our future and the Rotary couldn’t do these projects without the community support of our tournament,” Szalej stated. “We greatly appreciate the community support for our golf tournament. These sponsors along with Rotarians make our Dictionary Project and other projects and programs throughout the year, possible.”

Club member and Antioch School Board Trustee Barbara Cowan delivers one of the last boxes of dictionaries to an Antioch elementary school.

Club member and Antioch School Board Trustee Barbara Cowan delivers boxes of dictionaries to an Antioch elementary school on March 19.

Entry fee is $140.00 per golfer which includes a golf windbreaker, balls, green fees, cart, tee prizes and lunch.

The Antioch Rotary Club is looking for sponsors for this event, as well as donations of raffle prizes. Sponsorship levels range from: a Platinum membership of $1,500 for your company name on a billboard with 8 golfers, a Gold sponsorship level for $1,000 for your company name on a billboard along with 4 golfers, a Silver sponsorship level for $750 for your company name on a billboard along with 2 golfers and a Bronze sponsorship level for $500 for your company name on a billboard along with 1 golfer and a Copper sponsorship level for $250 for your company name on a billboard. Bernie Szalej, President, Antioch Rotary says that “I am hoping our business community will reach out and give back to our local community by supporting our golf tournament while advertising their business and having a fun day with others.”

Online registration is available for golfers at www.LoneTreeGolfCourse.com under “Upcoming Events.” Businesses or individuals interested in Antioch Rotary or sponsorship in the tournament can contact Milanka Schneiderman at Milanka13@msn.com for more information or visit www.AntiochRotaryClub.com or their Facebook page, under the name Rotary Club of Antioch, California.


the attachments to this post:


Barbara Cowan delivers boxes of dictionaries


Dr. Stacey Duckett and Club President Bernie Szalaj


Gloria Martin


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