Instead of the three R’s, Mathews High School students were taught about the importance of the three I’s—Introduction, Instruction and Inspiration—during a Black History Month program last Thursday afternoon in the school’s Harry M. Ward Auditorium.

The Rev. Dr. Robert Allen Diggs Sr., pastor of Petersburg’s Tabernacle Baptist Church and a 1970 MHS graduate, attempted to provide this year’s student body with some inspiration of its own as he paid tribute to coach Steve Lewis, the mentor who guided Diggs and the other members of the Blue Devils’ 1970 track and field team to a state championship.

“Don’t Just Score, Do More” was the title of his speech, where he described the important relationship between a student and mentor, using his own experiences with Lewis as an example.

“He introduced me to my gift,” Diggs said of Lewis. As part of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness challenge to studen...