Staff Writer

OTEGO — Third-graders at Otego Elementary School will now be able to find out what a rutabaga is, how to spell encyclopedia and which "there" to use, thanks to a gift from the local Grange.

The Otego-Susquehanna Grange gave every student in third grade a brand-new Webster's dictionary during a school assembly Friday morning.

"I don't know of any other Grange that has given out dictionaries to the entire third grade in its district," said Robert Hewlett, Grange master. "I think we're making history here."

About 40 third-graders processed to the front of the school's gymnasium to receive the dictionaries, then returned to their seats clutching their new books.

"Thank you," they shouted in unison at the end.

The Unadilla Grange plans to give third-graders at Unadilla Elementary School dictionaries after the holidays, Hewlett said, and other area Granges are considering donating to their local schools.

"I wanted the Grange to get some recognition out of this," Hewlett said, noting that the books cost 95 cents each.

"We also wanted to help the kids," he said.

Marcy Anderson, one of Otego Elementary School's two third-grade teachers, said the dictionaries will be used often in her classroom.

"We do a lot of writing," she said. "During the revision process, the editing, it's a great resource."

Third grade is the optimal time for students to begin using a dictionary, said school Principal Helen Anne Livingston.

"We look at kindergarten through second grade as when they're learning to read," she said. "From third grade on, they're reading to learn."

The dictionaries have a sticker in the front stating they were donated by the Grange, with a place for each child to write his or her name.

Hewlett said the idea to donate dictionaries came from a newspaper article he read about a woman in South Carolina who raised enough money to donate dictionaries to 4,000 third-grade students in her school district.

"She didn't stop there," Hewlett said. "Now she's trying to get dictionaries for all the third-graders in the state."

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