With a purpose to encourage fourth through sixth grade aged boys to build self-esteem, learn how to resolve conflict without fighting, and to take and maintain an interest in their education from primary school through to the tertiary level through their Alpha Mentorship Program at Sandilands Primary School.
Through the program, the Alphas aim to help the boys in developing good attentive skills, note taking, study habits and exam preparation skills that they hope would translate into the young men having successful examination results in the Grade Level Assessment Test (GLAT), Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) and Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE).
This year the fraternity held a Pens, Pencils and Pennies Drive with the assistance of Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of The Bahamas, Royal Star Insurance and Urban Renewal, to supply students at Sandilands Primary School, as well as Penn Pratt Co-Educational School (Simpson Penn Centre for Boys and Williemae Pratt School for Girls) with school supplies; music recorders were also presented to Sandilands music department by P.C. Engineers and Audio Plus.
The fraternity's leadership said it believes in developing leaders and securing the welfare of mankind. And that in order for the nation's children to excel to leadership levels in schools, they must be equipped with the basic tools needed to perform to their potential.
The fraternity's mentorship program that was launched last year concentrates on the importance of young Bahamian boys completing primary, junior secondary schools and the Fraternity's Honours Day Convocation, which focuses on young Bahamian males obtaining a collegiate education as a road to advancement.
With that in mind, members of the fraternity will hold a mentoring session for the boys at Sandilands on Saturday, October 1 between 10 a.m. and 12 noon.
Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American Men, was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York December 4, 1906 by seven college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of brotherhood among African descendants on campus.
Through more than three decades, Iota Epsilon Lambda Chapter was chartered in Nassau, The Bahamas on May 11, 1977 by the following trailblazers, Brothers Charles E. Albury, Hugh Chase, Aluchifer Rolle, Leroy N. Thompson, Julius Cox, Alfred Forbes, Rupert Smith, Kendal S. Darling, Mercian E. Mortimer, William R. Walkine, Godfrey Pratt, Luther Darville, Dr. Cyril Vanderpool, Arthur Fountain, Patrick Taylor (deceased), Rev. O. A. Pratt (deceased), Rev. Dr. Maynard Turner (deceased) and Theodore Nottage (deceased).
Since its chartering, Iota Epsilon Lambda has epitomized the true spirit of fraternity, brotherhood, leadership, and service in the community with such programs as Alpha Honours Day Convocation which recognizes the top graduating male high school students around the country since 1989, Salvation Army Bell and Red Cross Fair, Persis Rodgers, Sandilands Primary and Penn Pratt Co-Educational School.
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