Each year since 2007 the Brownwood Rotary Club, as part of the Dictionary Project, has purchased more than 500 copies of ‘A Student’s Dictionary’ and gifts them to every third grader in Brown County.

The tradition continues in 2021 as the Brownwood Rotary Club, which has purchased a total of 7,728 dictionaries during that 14-year span, made a stop at Northwest Elementary Monday afternoon.

“This is one of one of favorite projects each year,” said Brownwood Rotary Club President Mike Blagg. “It’s really fun to see those third graders’ faces light up when they receive their books I once had a third-grade teacher tell me ‘Don’t think you are wasting your money on those dictionaries, our kids love the books and really use them.’”

The books are targeted to third graders, according to Blagg, because studies have shown that if children are not reading well by the third grade they have difficulty every catching up.

“We’ve been doing this long enough now that many of our high-school seniors who are ‘Rotary Club Student of the Month’ still have their dictionaries and still use them,” Blagg said.

In addition to the dictionary, the book is also a general reference manual with sections on history, civics, geography, science, math, sign language, and Braille.

“Every year the students’ favorite part of the book is ‘The Longest Word in the English Language,’” Blagg said. “We always tell them it will be on their spelling test on Friday.”

The word consists of 1,909 letters and is the term for the formula C1289H2051N343O375S8 – a Tryptophan synthetase A protein, an enzyme that has 267 amino acids.

The word is as follows:

Methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylpheny-

lalanylalanylglutaminylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamy-

lglysylalanylphenylalanylvalylprolylphenylalanylyalylthreony-

lleucylglcycylaspartylprolylglicylisoleucyglutamylglutaminlsery-

lleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucylglutamylal-

anylglyclyalanylaspartylalanylleucyglutamylleucylgluycyliso-

leucylproluylphenylalanyserylaspartyprolylleucelalanylaspartyl-

glycylprolylthreonylisolleucyglutaminylasparaginylalanythreony-

lleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanylglycylvalylthreonyl-

prolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanylglglutamylmethiony-

lleucyalanylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolyu-

threonylisoleucylprolylisoleucylglycylleucylleucylmethionyltyro-

sylalanylasbaraginylleucylvalylphenylalanylsparaginyyllysyl-

glycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalanylyltyrosylalanyl-

glutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycylvalylspartylserylvaly-

lleucylvallalanylaspartylvalylprolylvalvlglutaminylglutamylsery-

lalanylprolylphenylalalrginylglutaminylalanylalanylleucylarginyl-

histidylasparaginylvalylalalprolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucyl-

cysteinylprolyprolylaspartylalanylaspartylaspartyspartyleucylleu-

cylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryltyroslglycylarginylglycyl-

tyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylserylarginlalanylglycylvaly-

lthreonylglycylalanylglutamylasparaginylarginylylalanylleucyl-

prolylleucylaspaaginylhistidylleucylvalylalanylysylleucyllysyl-

glutamyltyrosylasparagimylalanylalanyprolylprolylleucylglutaminy-

lglycylphenlalanylglycylisoleyucylserylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminy-

lvalyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylalspartylalanylglycylalanylalanyl-

glycylalanylasoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylbalyllysylisoleucy-

lisoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamyl-

pronylglutamyllysylmethionylluecylalanylalanyoeucyllysylvalyl-

phenylalanylvalylglutamilylprolylmethionyllysylalanylalanyl-

threonylarginylserine