Rotary puts off distribution of free dictionaries

Owing to the power crisis that the Public School System is dealing with, the Rotary Club of Saipan has decided to put off the distribution of dictionaries to third graders in public elementary schools to next week.

Rotary president Pete Igitol and Vocational Service director Kelley Butcher separately confirmed the rescheduling of the distribution of over a thousand Webster’s Paperback Dictionaries to students.

Rotarians were scheduled to hand out yesterday morning the dictionaries to their first recipient, some 120 third graders at William S. Reyes Elementary School, but had to reschedule because of the disconnection of power in the administrative offices of various public schools on island last Tuesday.

As a result, classes were suspended in all public schools on Wednesday pending their completion of a contingency plan for emergency situations. Three public schools, including Koblerville and Tanapag elementary schools, remained closed yesterday but resumed operations today.

“It is very, very unfortunate that because of the power cut off, we have to delay the distribution of the dictionaries,” Rotary president Pete Igitol told Saipan Tribune. “Hopefully, we can start the distribution next week.”

According to Igitol, they do not want to keep the children waiting for the dictionaries. “The children are already aware that the dictionaries are coming to them. For them to be waiting for several more days is just unfortunate so we really hope that we can deal with the distribution starting Monday,” he added.

Butcher noted that Rota’s Sinapalo Elementary School, which received the dictionaries last during the project’s initial year in 2011, will be the first to receive it this year.

Butcher, who is also the legal counsel for PSS, said she will personally deliver the dictionaries to the Rota third graders as she is scheduled to fly to the southern island today.

Butcher said Cape Air has agreed to waive the freight cost for the dictionaries she will distribute on Rota. Freedom Air, she added, will also shoulder the freight cost for the dictionaries to third graders at the Tinian Elementary School.

Rotary’s dictionary project this year, which cost about $1,500, is made possible with the assistance of the Rotary Club of Northern Guam with the “SoCal Dictionary Project” from the Rotary Club of Pacific Basin out of San Diego.