Psi Alpha Alpha Chapter and the Bernie L. Bates Foundation, Inc., conducted the third and final "Read-Aloud" session of their Reading for Success program at Riverside Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia, for this academic year. On May 16, 2025, the Brothers, known affectionately as "The Sirs," supported five third-grade classes with 102 energetic students.
For our third reading, we chose the book "Buddy Ran Away" by Thea Feldman. The book tells the story of a boy named Sam whose pet beagle "Buddy" runs away while chasing a rabbit in the country. Sam had to return home without Buddy, but the beagle's sense of smell enabled him to return home alone. It was exciting to see how eager the students were to read to the class and answer questions about what they read. Equally refreshing was the students' recognition of the "vocabulary" words in the story.
The Fairfax County Ques were represented by seven brothers who served as reading mentors: Brothers Philip Benjamin, Scotty Boler, Antonio Coleman, Eric Edmonds, Kermit Jones, Jeff Owens, and VJ Peoples. Today's session culminates our 11th year of this elementary school mentoring program in which we donated 360 age-appropriate books and spent 74 hours volunteering this school year.
The mentees, mentors, teachers, and principal are all convinced that we have significantly impacted their students' reading skills and vocabulary. We look forward to and have been invited to continue this program with their new third graders in the next academic year. We have concluded that the "Reading for Success" Program is making a "Real Difference!"
Brother Eric Edmonds and Riverside ES Third Grade Students.
Brothers Phil Benjamin, Antonio Colemen, Jeff Owens and Scotty Boler prepare to lead the final Reading for Success Program. Not pictured, Brothers VJ Peoples and K.C. Jones.
