East Orange Campus High School senior and track star Akeem Linda, second from left, and his coach stand with author and Eta Pi Chapter Omega Psi Phi fraternity member Matt Stevens, second from right, and other members of the ‘Community Q’s’ on Thursday, May 10, during the book-signing and scholarship award ceremony at the Burger King restaurant on Central Avenue.
EAST ORANGE, NJ — Members of the Eta Pi Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, also known as the “Community Q’s,” will be hosting a Welcome 2 Work youth mentoring event at the Ambrose Ward Mansion, 132 South Harrison St., East Orange, on Saturday, May 19, from noon to 2 p.m.
“Welcome 2 Work” is also the title of the latest book by fraternity member Matt Steven. Stevens previously served as director of the East Orange Recreation Department during the tenure of former Mayor Lester Taylor.
“We (are having) a Welcome 2 Work workshop for anyone age 13 to 18 years old to come and learn about some soft skills, including how to write a resume, how to interact with professionals in the workplace, how to be on time and other things of that nature,” said Barry Devone, chairman of the fraternity’s mentoring program, at Stevens’ book-signing and scholarship giveaway Thursday, May 10. “It’s a ‘Welcome to Work’ forum. It’s all about providing youth opportunities to learn about how to interact in the workplace. It’s open to the public, primarily focused on teenagers aged 13 to 18, but it’s open to anyone who’s interested in learning more about how to operate in the workplace.”
Jermariah Pou, 15, is a freshman honors student at East Orange Campus High School who likes social studies; he said he will definitely attend the May 19 workshop.
“I’ve been supporting them from Day 1,” said Pou on Thursday, May 10. “Ever since I’ve joined, I’ve made a commitment that I’m going to be there every time they have programs. So I try my best to be there on time.”
Devone thanked Pou for his punctuality and ongoing participation in the program.
“The mentee-mentor relationship never ends. I think it’s important to the community,” said Devone on Thursday, May 10. “It’s each one teach one, right? If I have knowledge, if I can pass that on to someone else who, in turn, passes it on, the knowledge becomes systemic in the community and the community becomes a better place for everyone to live.”
Pou agreed that the mentoring relationship is important on several different levels.
“Brother Barry is a longtime friend who has impacted me, because he showed me how to become a man and the qualifications to become a man and he also shows us the behaviors we need, too,” Pou said. “We also learn that time management is everything. We also learn how to budget money and how to spend money, because spending money and budgeting money, we have to do that wisely. We also talk about keeping our grades up, because he wants us to go to college and he has high hopes for us.”
For more information about the Eta Pi Chapter Community Q’s youth mentoring workshop on Saturday, May 19, email Devobarr@gmail.com.
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