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EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University's men's basketball team participated in Literacy Alive!, the signature service initiative of Kappa Delta Pi, by reading to students at J.M. Hill Elementary School in East Stroudsburg on Tuesday afternoon.

Kappa Delta Pi is the international honor society in the field of education, and has undertaken the initiative to promote literacy skills. Literacy Alive! events have been held for nearly a decade and have 40,000 participants across the country.

This year's theme is “Don't Bug Me!  I'm Reading!”, so the Warriors read books about bugs and insects in J.M. Hill's second-grade classrooms to spark their interest in reading.

“This event has become a yearly tradition for our program,” said ESU head coach Jeff Wilson. “We are very grateful for the opportunity for our players and staff to go to J.M. Hill and spend time with the students. To see their excitement as we interact with them is extremely rewarding!”

“The great thing about this event is allowing the children to connect with the athletes, who they look up to as role models,” said Kara Predatsch, the foundations representative of Kappa Delta Pi.

“The children are really impacted by seeing college athletes who enjoy reading and are enthusiastic about learning. I know the students had a great time, and we thank the basketball players for taking the time to make a difference,” Predatsch said.

Kappa Delta Pi organized three days of Literacy Alive! events, including Tuesday's time at J.M. Hill.

On Monday, they were joined by children's author Lindsay Barrett George at the Monroe Public Library as she taught children how she writes her books. Members of KDP also had book readings and made insect crafts with the children. On Wednesday, they visited the Stroudsburg YMCA, working with their Latch Key program students from grades 4-6 on reading skills and making spider crafts.