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Making Kids Scary Smart

Media Contact: Kelley Nave, APR, at (423) 304-3579, 752-0322 or mailto:kelleynave@uwchatt.org
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UNITED WAY TREATS VOLUNTARY PRE-K STUDENTS TO FREE DICTIONARIES

No tricks this Halloween! United Way of Greater Chattanooga gave out special educational “treats” to area preschoolers this Wednesday, October 31. About 940 children enrolled in Hamilton County’s voluntary preschools received an age-appropriate dictionary in an effort by United Way’s Project Ready for School initiative to better equip Pre-K students for learning success.

“There is a definite correlation between the size of a child’s vocabulary and the likelihood that the child will be a proficient reader,” said Zan Guerry, chairman of the Board of Directors at United Way. “Project Ready for School aims to give young children the tools they need to build their vocabulary and prepare for school success. This effort with the dictionaries is just another way that we are reaching out to achieve that goal.”

The My First Dictionary that each child received features several familiar words for each letter of the alphabet and includes definitions, pictures and simple sentences using the words. The dictionary also incorporates colors, shapes and antonyms (opposite words).

“This tool will be something that the child can begin to use now and continue to use into their first years of primary school,” added Mr. Guerry.

In addition to the dictionaries, each child also received a family pass to the Creative Discovery Museum and a United Way Early Learning DVD, “Building Minds, Building Futures” for their parents.

Thanks to generous donations to United Way’s annual campaign made by individuals, companies, and foundations to support the Project Ready for School initiative, United Way can distribute these dictionaries to children in area voluntary preschools. Pre-K students in Marion, Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties also received free dictionaries, totaling almost 1,900 dictionaries given away in this area.

United Way’s Project Ready to School is a local public-private partnership with the goal of assuring that every child enters school ready to succeed. United Way and its partners currently offer early learning tools for more than 14,000 preschool children in five counties in Tennessee and Georgia who have enrolled in Project Ready for School and are receiving a free Imagination Library book in the mail each month. Other free resources available through Project Ready for School are annual learning checkups, book extension activities to accompany the books received in the mail and neighborhood reading centers.

All children, age birth to five and living in a participating county, are eligible for Project Ready for School resources at no charge to their families. To request an enrollment brochure, contact United Way at www.uwchatt.org or 423-752-0300.

List of Area Schools Receiving Dictionaries (Except Marion Co. Schools)

Hamilton County Voluntary Pre-K Schools

Apison Elementary School
Avondale Head Start Center
Birchwood Elementary School
Tommie F. Brown Academy for Classical Studies
Cedar Hill Head Start Center
Chattanooga Human Services
Children's Home/Chambliss Shelter
Clifton Hills Elementary School
Daisy Elementary School
Daisy Head Start Center
Calvin Donaldson Elementary
East Lake Elementary School
Hardy Elementary School
Hillcrest Elementary School
Lakeside Academy for Math, Science, and Technology
Lookout Valley Elementary School
McBrien Elementary School
North Chattanooga Head Start
Orchard Knob Elementary School
Pro Re Bona Child Care Center
Red Bank Elementary
Rivermont Elementary School
Signal Centers
Snow Hill Elementary School
Soddy Elementary School
Spring Creek Elementary School
Summit Head Start Center
Wolftever Creek Elementary School
Woodmore Elementary School