Beacon 3rd Graders Receive Annual Dictionary Donation From Beacon Elks - For 15th Year

Third-graders in the Beacon City School District receive dictionaries donated by the Beacon Elks Lodge.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

If you’re a parent in the Beacon City School District, you may have seen this yellow dictionary come home this past winter in your child’s backpack (this article got backlogged a bit). Where did the dictionary come from, you may have wondered? The teachers, administrators and PTA/O parents are always finding ways to send kids home with free treats, so what’s the story on the yellow dictionary?

For the past 15 years, third-graders in the Beacon City School District have each received one donated dictionary from the Beacon Elks Lodge. Says Carl Oken to A Little Beacon Blog about the donation: “Studies have shown that the third grade is the identified grade for the best results in expanding the youths’ vocabulary. Nationwide, 1,900 Elks Lodges have been distributing dictionaries to third-graders across our country (approaching 2 million dictionaries distributed) to help students’ literacy. Here in Beacon, we have been donating dictionaries to our third-graders for over 15 years and we have now donated over 4,000 dictionaries. We look forward to expanding the dictionary project to Haldane, Garrison and Fishkill Elementary Schools.”