By Janell Williams
In a heartwarming display of community engagement, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity members recently visited Davis Elementary School to share the gift of literacy with young students in their Wright Readers program. With arms laden with colorful books and beaming smiles, the fraternity brothers embarked on a mission to promote reading and ignite a love for learning among elementary school children.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of academic routines, the fraternity brothers sought to inject a dose of excitement into the students’ daily lives. Armed with tales of adventure, imagination, and knowledge, they arrived at the school ready to captivate young minds and spark curiosity.
“After the 2019 Bob Wright Business Empowerment Symposium, we wanted to stay visible in the community and were trying to see how we could do that,” remarked Alpha Onward & Upward Foundation Chairman and CEO Sir Michael Jones. “We chose Davis Elementary because it is a special place for Dr. Wright. His aunt taught there, his daughter attended and we have many fraternity members who were and are educators there as well.”
The visit, which was part of the fraternity’s Onward and Upward initiative, proved to be a resounding success. From classic fairy tales to educational picture books, the fraternity brothers shared a diverse selection of titles, catering to the students’ varied interests and reading levels.
“Within one quarter we had double the circulation of reading that we had the previous year,” said J.D. Davis Elementary Principal Dr. Aetavia Williams. “Every month a scholar is chosen from each classroom. The teachers are given a rubric with four categories: Leadership, Kindness, Citizenship and Academics to grade the kids on a scale of one to four. We broadcast the chosen scholars on TVs throughout the school and we treat them to incentives like Popsicles with the Principal.”
Since the program’s implementation, J.D. Davis Elementary has seen an increase in its STAR performance and Lexile scores. These are K–12 comprehensive reading assessment tests that assess reading skills across 11 domains using a combination of traditional reading comprehension passages to help identify a student’s reading level and strengths.
As the visit came to a close, the fraternity brothers bid farewell to the students, their hearts warmed by the smiles and gratitude they had received in return.
“Our fraternity is more than just a social organization; we, as Alpha men, understand how critical reading is to development,” said Oz Roberts, Alpha Phi Alpha Historian. I read that each year, prisons use literacy scores from as young as third graders to determine the number of beds they’ll need in the future. We know reading opens doors and opportunities for people, especially for students of color, and we want to instill that.”
As the Delta Phi fraternity brothers departed from Davis Elementary School, they left behind not only books but also a legacy of compassion, generosity, and the belief that every child deserves the opportunity to embark on a magical journey through the pages of a book.
“I enjoy this program because, not only do we see students getting excited to read, but they also see themselves in the black and brown characters in the books. It’s vital for them to have that representation so they know they can do and be anything like the characters they’re reading about,” said Williams.
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