Rotary Club of Sun Lakes Preps for Delivery of Over 6,000 Dictionaries to Valley 3rd Graders 

By: Dr. Honora Norton RCSL Public Image Director, with Chandler Unified School District

In the summer of 2002, Rotary Club of Sun Lakes Rotarian Dwight Grotewold visited the Rotary Club of Logan, Utah, where he learned about their innovative elementary school initiative known as “A Dictionary for 3rd Graders.” Drawing on his experience as a former K-12 teacher and his recent retirement as Vice President of Admissions for the University of Colorado, Dwight championed the idea and presented it to the Rotary Club of Sun Lakes board and the club members. The proposal was approved for implementation during Rotary year 2003-04 with Dwight leading the way with fundraising and all club members helping in a “sticker work projects” to prepare the dictionaries with stickers showing the Rotary International logo, The Rotary 4-Way Test, RCSL Club label depicting who made the donation possible, and a Rotary Book Mark.  RCSL continues its legacy of education programs by again distributing over 6,000 dictionaries in 2026 to 3rd graders in the Chandler Unified School District and Gila River Indian Community. 

Our district executive team is currently engaged in a study of The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX), which emphasizes identifying a Wildly Important Goal (WIG) and establishing clear strategies and actions that directly influence that goal while continuing to manage the day-to-day demands—the “whirlwind”—of our work.

As a district executive team, we have identified a WIG for this school year: increasing Grade 3 English Language Arts proficiency from an average of 53% to 58%.

We know that strong literacy skills in the elementary years are foundational to future learning. The national conversation surrounding student reading achievement has further underscored the importance of this work. Throughout this school year, we will be sharing more information on ways families can help support this goal at home.

Third grade is our focus—not our limit.