Sandra Deal visits Sherwood Acres, West Town slementaries
Surprise visit is part of state first lady’s ‘Read Around Georgia’ initiative
Sherwood Acres Elementary School Kindergarten student Blythe Grace welcomes Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal before a reading session at the school Monday. Deal also visited West Town Elementary later in the morning. (Staff Photo: Terry Lewis)
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY — First Lady Sandra Deal surprised students at Sherwood Acres and West Town elementary schools Monday morning when she showed up to read to a gaggle of kindergartners and first- and second-graders. The pop-in visit is part of Deal’s “Read Across Georgia Tour.”
“We and the children were definitely surprised by the visit. They were excited and knew she was an important person because they had read and heard about her,” Sherwood Principal Yvette Simmons said of the first lady. “Having her on campus to read to our children is a big deal for us. We really appreciate her taking time out of her busy schedule to visit Sherwood Acres.”
The daughter of educators, Deal has dedicated her life to encouraging childhood education. As a Georgia public school teacher, she taught for more than 15 years and retired as a sixth-grade middle school teacher in Hall County.
She has furthered those efforts in her role as Georgia’s first lady, and promoting literacy has been one of her top priorities. As part of her “Read Across Georgia” tour, Deal has visited and read to students in all 159 counties and 181 school districts to encourage student reading. To date, she has visited more than 500 schools in Georgia, encouraging students to love reading and to become “life-long learners.”
“Parental activities as simple as reading stories aloud to young children can greatly improve and enhance our students’ reading and literacy skills,” Deal said. “Georgia children are a precious resource and undoubtedly capable of being the future leaders of our state. We, as parents, teachers and mentors, must take it upon ourselves to ensure that our students are good readers.”
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