Right about 3rd grade, students go from learning to read, to reading to learn. It's imperative that they have the tools they need to better understand the material and lessons before them, and an important and very useful tool is a dictionary.

For more than 20 years, the Oshtemo Grange has been a part of the national dictionary project and has gifted every Otsego 3rd grade student their own dictionary.

Gene the Pumpkin Man is a part of the Oshtemo Grange and most students recognize him and love meeting him. He visits each school with one or two other Grange board members to share information about the grange and the gift they bring.

The kids love hearing about their organization and diving into the dictionaries! The speakers always point out the longest word in the dictionary and that they can explore the letters of sign language.

A big thank you to the Oshtemo Grange for this life-long learning gift!