Villa Rica Elementary School was recently honored as a part of the “Read Across Georgia” initiative. This initiative supports Gov. Nathan Deal’s goal of increasing the percentage of children reading at grade level by the completion of third grade. The special guest visitor and reader was First Lady Sandra Deal, who was welcomed by over one hundred Pre-K and Kindergarten students when she arrived at Villa Rica Elementary School.

First Lady Deal began the session by telling the students she was a teacher of the 6th grade for many years. Then she read the poem “Learning to Read,” which was written by Gov. Nathan Deal. Next, she shared a wonderful book, “Who I’d Like to Be,” written by Elizabeth Brown and illustrated by Elizabeth Brown’s great granddaughter Alexandra Elizabeth Brown. Mrs. Deal ended the session by reminding the student to work hard and follow their dreams and perhaps one day they would also be an author or illustrator of a book.

First Lady Deal then posed for pictures with students and staff. Her goal is to visit every school district across the state of Georgia.