By Larry Bailey, Master
It gives me a great amount of pleasure to tell you that Terry Bomba and I had a very enjoyable and rewarding trip to third-grade classrooms at St George School to present dictionaries to the students. Both rooms combined, and thus, we had 24 students to present the books to. This presentation of dictionaries is our annual Words for Thirds program. As in the past, the students seemed anxious to find out what we had to offer and really appeared to be very happy to get the books. After briefly explaining what the Grange is and what we do for our community, they asked some good questions.
One of the young girls said, “My grandmother works at the Grange.” I asked who is her grandmother and she said “Brenda Armstrong.” Brenda, while not a Grange member, has been voluntarily tending the trimming of the grass and weeds around the Grange and the beautiful flowers in the front of the Grange Hall for years. She is a gem.
I want to thank the two third-grade teachers, Lauren Wilgus and Sierra Beal, for arranging the gathering along with Mr. Felton, the School Superintendent. We hope to be there every year in the future.
Larry and Terry also received this note and permission to share it from Superintendent Felton:
I want to thank both of you for visiting the school and providing the 3rd graders with dictionaries. You all did a great job sharing the Grange’s mission and work – the kids were engaged and curious throughout your visit. And they were certainly excited about the dictionaries!
Thank you for offering this program and all you do to support our students. As a school district, our mission is to do whatever it takes to ensure that every single student thrives and to contribute to the vitality and resiliency of our town. The only way we can realize this mission is with the support of our community, of organizations like the Grange.
With sincere thanks,
Mike, Superintendent, MSAD 50
For more information about the Words for Thirds Program and how your Grange, community, students, and teachers can reap these benefits, visit the Words for Thirds Resource Page.