Dover, DE – Members of the Wesley College football program visited Fairview Elementary School as part of the Jumpstart Read for the Record reading program.  The players read the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar to students in kindergarten thru fourth grade.

Seniors Greg Luke (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) and Tom Fox (Middletown, Del./Middletown), junior Joe Lightcap (Middletown, Del./Middletown), sophomores Barry Garrard (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway), James Speake (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills), Joe Cifelli (Princeton, N.J./Princeton) and Robert Ridgway (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby) and freshmen Jeremiah Milner (Camden, Del./Caesar Rodney), Coleman Peteet (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) and Matt Barile (Bel Air, Md./Fallston).

The student-athletes were accompanied by assistant coaches Steve Azzanesi and P.J. DiGati (Middletown). Wesley's involvement in the program came about through its coaching staff. “It's great to have the guys go out and get involved with the local schools,” said Wesley Head Coach Mike Drass. “Jen Plews who is a teacher at Fairview Elementary mentioned something to her husband Shawn and it seemed like a great thing to get involved in,” Drass added.  

Jen's husband Shawn Plews is the Wolverines' running backs coach and special teams coordinator. Jumpstart's Read for the Record is a campaign designed to bring attention to the importance of early education.

By encouraging hundreds of thousands of children and adults to read the same book on the same day, Jumpstart aims to break a world record and to make early education a national priority.


Back Row (L-R):  Joe Lightcap, Tom Fox, Greg Luke, James Speake, Robert Ridgway and Joe Cifelli.  Front Row (L-R):  Steve Azzanesi, Jeremiah Milner, Matt Barile, Barry Garrard, Coleman Peteet and P.J. DiGati.

For information contact Mark Gregorio, director of public information at (302) 736-2330 or e-mail Gregorio at gregorma@wesley.edu.