Every Mercer County third grader will receive a new dictionary again this year thanks to the Dictionary Project. Students at Melrose Elementary School in Princeton will receive their copies of “Webster’s Dictionary for Students, Special Encyclopedic Edition” during a ceremony at the school on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. The program begins at 1:30 p.m.
Providing a dictionary for the county’s third graders is an annual collaborative project between Concord University, Bluefield State College, Mercer County Schools and the Princeton and Bluefield Rotary Clubs conducted over the past 11 years in honor of Noah Webster’s birthday. Each year, the group selects a different school for the presentation ceremony.
The Dictionary Project, according to the nonprofit organization’s website, is an international effort working “to ensure that everyone will be able to enjoy the benefits of owning a dictionary.”
“The goal of this program is to assist all students in becoming good writers, active readers, creative thinkers, and resourceful learners by providing them with their own personal dictionary,” the website says. “The dictionaries are a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come.”
Concord University, the National Geographic Society and the West Virginia Geographic Alliance, in conjunction with Hinton Area Elementary School, will also be conducting a Geography Day BioBlitz at Camp Brookside in Summers County with 80 students on Sept. 16, 2016.
The students will take part in dendrochronology activities and biology on the New River along with plant, archaeology, and faunal studies from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. An astronomy event will be held in the evening.
Concord University students and faculty, Dr. Alice Hawthorne-Allen, Dr. Tom Saladyga, and Dr. Joe Manzo, are participating in the program.
The BioBlitz coincides with the 100th birthday of the National Park Service.
