Students may not be fond of tests, but they are being given one that might benefit them in the years to come.

The Rotary Club of Chilton County is in the middle of its annual project of handing out dictionaries to every public school third grader in the county.

Included in the dictionaries is Rotary’s “Four-Way Test”:

1. Is it the truth?

2. Is it fair to all concerned?

3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

“For some of them, this may be the first dictionary that they’ve ever had,” said Dennis Cobb, principal at Clanton Intermediate School, whose 228 students received dictionaries on Wednesday. “We appreciate everything the Rotary Club does for our school.”

The local Rotary club has been distributing dictionaries since 2004.

By the end of the project, Rotary members will have distributed Webster’s Student Dictionary to about 630 students in Chilton County.

Rotary District 6880, which includes all the clubs from Clanton south to Mobile, will give away about 23,000 dictionaries this year.

“Education is very important in anybody’s life,” said Roger Yeargan, president of the Rotary Club of Chilton County. “The younger we can get people reading, that helps them the rest of their lives.

“Third grade is the right time to do this because they have an appreciation of the gift, and it helps build interest in school. We’re giving them the right start.”