Principal Jayne Martin and Elks Lodge Member Andy Costello.
On a brisk morning at the outside school assembly area, Mission Viejo / Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge No. 2444 (“Elks Lodge”) distributed 191 dictionaries to third graders of the Oso Grande Elementary school located in Ladera Ranch, California. Before Christmas, the Elks Lodge will distribute dictionaries to the third graders of the other elementary schools in the Saddleback Valley for a total distribution of approximately 4,400 dictionaries.
After the morning pledge of allegiance and announcements by school Principal Jayne Martin, Elks Lodge members Andy Costello and Hal Mattson gave a brief description of the contents of the dictionary and threw out a few test questions that were correctly answered by the students. In addition to word definitions, the dictionary includes additional information one might normally find in an encyclopedia. Information was also conveyed about the Elks scholarship programs available to them as they apply for admittance to a college or university. After the brief comments, the dictionaries were handed to the excited and smiling third graders.
Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Pat Martino said, “Research has shown that the third grade is crucial to the students learning of new words and an aid in their acquisition of reading skills. The excitement and joy displayed by the third graders is a reward one will not easily forget.”
The Mission Viejo / Saddleback Elks Lodge No. 2444, celebrating forty (40) years of service to the Saddleback Valley communities, is one of ten lodges in the Orange Coast District of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) whose headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois. The BPOE is a charitable organization with a 142 year history of giving, “Elks Care, Elks Share.”
