NEWARK, N.J. --- The NJIT women's soccer team recently took a break from their Spring training and academic schedules to make a community service trip to Mount Pleasant Elementary School in nearby West Orange.

Fifteen Highlander student-athletes went to Mount Pleasant to participate in the National Education Association's Annual Read Across America Week. According to the Read Across America website, the initiative was launched in 1998 by the NEA and "focuses on motivating children and teens to read through events, partnerships, and reading resources that are about everyone, for everyone."

"Read Across America is a fantastic initiative that gets kids to take more of an interest in reading and we were very excited to take part in it. Our young ladies thoroughly enjoyed being able to read to students and spend time in the school today. The teachers and administrators were amazing and made the experience even more enjoyable. We are looking forward to our next opportunity to go back," said assistant coach Chris Duggan, who attended the event with the team.

The team spent their time reading and interacting with students from kindergarten to fifth grade.