On Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022, on behalf of the Orem-Lindon Rotary Club, Ms. Cholpon Akmatalieva, my classmate Emmanuel Omaria and I went to Bonneville Elementary School to donate dictionaries to the third-grade students.
(R to L) Rotarian Cholpon Akmatalieva and Rotaractor Emmanuel Omaria presenting dictionaries
This was part of the service project of the members of the Orem-Lindon Rotary club to raise funds and buy English dictionaries for students at elementary schools in the city of Orem, Utah. Rotarians purchased 263 dictionaries which then delivered to 4 schools in Orem and Vineyard jointly with Rotaractors. Rotaractors are students from Utah Valley University, members of the Rotaract, a student club representing Rotary International at their campus. Other groups included Dean Robinson, past president of the Orem Rotary with Rotaractor Stephan Atkinson, who delivered 72 dictionaries to Windsor Elementary school as well as Orem-Lindon Rotary President Spencer Mack with his wife Jane delivered 45 dictionaries to Sharon Elementary school in Orem.
Rotarian Keith Morgan distributed 78 dictionaries to the Freedom Prep Academy in Vineyard and was able to meet briefly with Principal Carrie Banfield and teacher Susan Cundiff and discuss the mission and global reach of Rotary International.
Rotarian Keith Morgan presenting dictionaries to 78 students at the Freedom Prep Academy in Vineyard
According to Rotary International, the mission of the Rotary Club is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through fellowship of business, professional and community leaders. Education is very important and is one of the biggest steps one can take towards success. Through donating dictionaries to the third-grade students, the Rotary Club showed support towards education. Ms. Cholpon began with addressing the third-grade students, telling them what the Rotary Club was and what they did. She continued to tell them the importance of the dictionaries that they received and how they should use them. The students were very excited to receive these dictionaries and they thanked the Rotary Club for its generosity.
UVU Rotaractors Emmanuel Omaria and Jokudu Jada presenting dictionaries to students
Volunteering for the Rotary club was such a great experience. I decided to participate in this project based on the experience I had growing up. I went to elementary school in Kampala, Uganda. I remember at that time buying textbooks and school materials was a hustle for a lot of parents. I remember when I was in the third grade as well, a publishing company in Uganda called, “Fountain Publishers” came to my school and donated story books to students. These story books addressed various topics and problems faced by people in Uganda such as diseases, poor education among others. The books were not only entertaining but also educational. I enjoyed reading them and I was so happy and grateful to them for giving us those books. While going to Bonneville Elementary School, I did not expect a lot, but I hoped that the children would be happy to receive these books and maybe have a similar experience as I did.
At Bonneville Elementary School, we received a very warm welcome from the staff at our arrival. We arrived during class hours but some of the students we met at the hallways said hello to us with bright smiles on their faces, and to me this showed the discipline that they had. They were very appreciative of the dictionaries they received. Through this volunteer project, I experienced the joy that comes from providing services to other people at no cost. This was a project that was nondiscriminatory and showed how caring and supportive people and in particular Rotarians in our communities can be. I think that the Rotary Club provided a great and memorable experience not only to me but also to the third grade students that received dictionaries that day.
By Jokudu Jada (Winnie), Political Science/Global Politics student, Rotaractor, UVU
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Utah District Rotary Newsletter
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STUDENT REFLECTIVE ESSAYS
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THANK YOU LETTERS
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Freedom Academy students 1 Freedom Academy students 2
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