Real Men Read
Real Men Read is an outreach program designed to promote literacy and foster positive self-
esteem in children in urban areas, particularly amongst Raleigh-area schools where reading scores are traditionally low. The Greater Raleigh Guide Right Program adopted Bugg Elementary school (which was ranked 1357 out of 1407 elementary schools in North Carolina) in 2015. We were concerned by the statistics showing that boys are more interested in sports than books. To mitigate this and in an effort to boost reading scores, the Kappa Charitable Trust Fund, Inc. mobilized its "Real Men Read of the Raleigh (NC) Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and are from different professions to read to the children thereby serving a dual purpose to promote the love of reading and provide positive African American male role modeling which in our service area there's a large void. The impact of Real Men Read is immediate and a great example of “Real Men Giving Real Time”. The children are listening, asking questions as well as answering questions from the guest reader. The long term impact is the beginning read readiness in children's educational development, language development expanding their vocabulary, how to read with expression, develop a passion for reading and becoming a lifelong learners.