Georgia’s First Lady visits Pike school

Georgia’s First Lady visited Pike County Primary School students, teachers and parents March 14 to share with them the importance of reading as part of the Read Across Georgia initiative. Sandra Deal has traveled to many schools promoting her husband Gov. Nathan Deal’s goal of increasing the number of students reading at grade level by the end of third grade. ’My husband believes reading is so very important to each one of you,’ she said. ‘He’s working at the Capitol and he’s busy there, so I said I’ll come and tell the students how important it is to read. To do anything in life, you need to be able to read.’First Lady Deal selected a book by a Georgia author, Who I’d Like To Be, by Elizabeth Brown. ’She wrote this book when she was 90 years old. That just goes to show us if we learn to read, write and draw when we’re little, you’ll always be able to do it,’ she said. ‘One day, I might be reading your book to other children.’She asked many questions to the pre-K, kindergarten and first grade students during her presentation. They answered right on cue with the book’s storyline. She also traveled to read books at Fayette, Meriwether and Upson county school systems the morning and early afternoon of March 14. She hopes to visit every school district in the state over the next three years during the ‘Read Across Georgia’ initiative.