VALLEY GRANDE — Members of the Concordia College Alabama soccer team volunteered at Valley Grande Elementary School Friday as the Hornets helped the students take part in “Read Across America Week.”

“It was great to get to work with all the kids today,” said freshman midfielder Luis Carlos Araya from Costa Rica. “They were very excited to have us there and they were very excited to learn.”

Each student-athlete spent 25-30 minutes in several classrooms, taking turns reading a variety of Dr. Seuss books. The Hornets then had time to take questions from the first through fifth graders about playing soccer at Concordia and shared information regarding their homelands.

The soccer program currently has players from ten different countries: Jamaica, Columbia, USA, Haiti, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Argentina, Mampong, Trinidad & Tobago and Zimbabwe.

“Personally, I believe the opportunity we had today reading to the kids at Valley Grande Elementary School was great” said freshman forward Tomas Wais, who is from Argentina.

“Being able to get to know them, to have conversations with them, being able to teach them some Spanish while emphasizing the importance of reading.”

Six members of the team took part in the event, which promotes reading for all age levels across the U.S., leading up to “Read Across America Day,” which fell on Saturday, March 2, this year.

“They welcomed us back, which is a good thing,” said head coach Emanuel Stephens. “ We would love to come back and read to the classes again because as Dr. Seuss stated, “You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read with a child.”