Brother Jeffrey Owens and Brother Jerry Hubbard asks the students questions concerning the book.
Alexandria, VA. The brothers of Psi Alpha Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., have been putting a lot of quality time uplifting the community. We concluded that neither rain, nor snow, nor severe countywide storm could preclude the occurrence of our third Reading for Success session at Riverside Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia. In spite of the storm, 14 of 17 chapter brothers were able to brave the weather and turned a potential limited showing into another success.
The reading occurred on April6, 2017, and the Brothers of Psi Alpha Alpha Chapter, known affectionately as “The Sirs,” supported six,third-grade classes consisting of 125 students. Our efforts to emphasize the importance of reading were truly appreciated based on the students’ and teachers’ responses.
The book that was chosen for the third read aloud was “Joanie’s House Becomes a Home” by Donna Latham. The book was read and given as an eighth book for the student’s individual library. The book tells the incredible story of a girl name Joanie Chen who is moving from San Francisco, California, to Boston, Massachusetts, with her family, and the process involved in making the move and finding new friends.
Psi Alpha Alpha Chapter was represented by 14brothers who served as reading mentors: Brothers Marion “Barney” Barnwell; Bradford Caldwell; James Cherry; Richard Garner; James George; Jerome “Duke” Haggins; Willard Jasper; JD Leverett;Ronald Lofton, Sr.; Frank Matthews; Richard Morris; Sheldon Schanck; and Charles Sias. The chapter’s Social Action Coordinator, Brother Kenneth M. Younger, facilitated the event and the feedback from our first-time readers was that, it was truly inspiring to be able to give back to the community.
To date, the men of Psi Alpha Alpha have donated over 988 books in connection with the reading program. The overarching goal of this social action effort was to inspire the third-graders to be excited about reading and to touch the lives of as many students as possible at Riverside Elementary. The brothers of Psi Alpha Alpha Chapter will continue to do their part as we look forward to our fourth and final “Read Aloud” in June 2017.
Brad Caldwell and Brother James George Read to the Third grade students.
Brother Ralph Cooper shows the class pictures in the book while Brother Frank Matthews reads.
