Kīhei-Walea Rotary distributes dictionary-almanac books to Kihei Charter students

Kīhei-Wailea Rotarians joined together to give a combination Dictionary-Almanac book to 3rd graders at Kīhei Charter School on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. This annual community service project was designed to increase studentsʻ interest in learning new words and experiencing other fun parts of the almanac.

With fellow members assisting, Rotarian Joanne Doell lead the lessons to acquant the students with how to use the dictionary, and to explore several other sections of the book.  Discovering the birthdays of several Presidents, what is the longest river in the world (the Nile) and various details of states on the continent such as the their state flower, bird and tree led them to explore other Almanac sections. Learning how to use Sign Language brought fun as students learned how to finger-spell the word, “d-o-g” and their own names. 

You may see Rotarians doing other community projects such as beach cleanups, maintaining the yellow rescue tubes at South Maui beaches, providing one-on-one reading coaching for first grade students—which will begin on Sept. 15 and providing student scholarships. Other projects include donating school supplies to Kīhei students and joining other clubs in planting trees in Lahaina.

President Kim Hightower invites community volunteers and friends of Rotarians to join their activities. Check out their website, mauirotary.org, for meeting days and upcoming speakers and events. All are welcome to attend meetings and or Pau Hana events. 

The Rotary Club of Kīhei-Wailea has been supporting the South Maui community since 1978 and the Lahaina recovery efforts since 2023. Their goal is to “give back… and give forward to the betterment of the community.”