The Mercedes Lions Club donated 330 dictionaries to the third-grade students of Mercedes Independent School District last week.
According to a release, members of the club stopped at John F. Kennedy Elementary, Ruben Hinojosa Elementary, W.B. Travis Elementary and Zachary Taylor Elementary to distribute the dictionaries.
Mary Bunton, treasurer of the Mercedes Lions Club, said children in the third grade receive the dictionaries because it is a critical stage in their educational development.
“This is when they transition from learning to read to reading to learn,” Bunton said in a press release.
Mercedes CISD Superintendent Carolyn Mendiola, M.Ed., said, a dictionary can help student learn even more than just the meaning of a word.
“Among other things, a dictionary can them help elevate their vocabulary, spelling and grammar. It’s a gift that can actually benefit the entire family,” Mendiola said in a press release. “We are very grateful to the Mercedes Lions Club for giving our students such a valuable tool.”
Since 2016, the Mercedes Lions Club has given every MISD third-grader a paperback dictionary, according to a release.