(Pictured) Conyers Civic League member and retired Media Specialist Carol Dunbar tells Lorraine Elementary School third-graders about their new dictionaries and all the tools contained within the books’ covers. The Civic League recently presented a dictionary to each RCPS third-grader. Since beginning the program, the Civic League has given more than 12,000 dictionaries to local students.

The Dictionary Project was started in 1922 by Annie Plummer, a Savannah school crossing guard, who dropped out of school as a young girl but later finished her education as an adult. With just $50 and lots of determination, Plummer bought dictionaries for children in  her hometown. Today, more than 18 million dictionaries have been given.

“We believe these dictionaries will help you this school year as your teachers lead you to become good writers, active readers and creative thinkers,” said Dunbar.