Dan Abat and Gary Kay distributed nearly 130 dictionaries to South End third-grade students, Deer Lagoon Grange recently announced.

Abat and Kay worked in coordination with Deer Lagoon Grange.

The grange has been distributing dictionaries to public, private and homeschooled students for several years.

It is a part of a national program to ensure all third-graders are provided with a personal dictionary in order to foster excellence in writing, reading, resourcefulness and creative thinking, according to a news release.

Educators view third grade as a dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn.

This year, Abat and Kay gave the books to South Whidbey Elementary School, South Whidbey Academy, Whidbey Island Waldorf School, Island Christian Academy and Wellington Day School.

Over two million dictionaries were distributed nationwide and 46,000 Washington State students received dictionaries this year, according to the release.