Gov. Nathan Deal and First Lady Sandra Deal will celebrate Get Georgia Reading Day and kick off Read Across Georgia Month at the State Capitol on Monday, March 5.
Children’s author Carmen Agra Deedy will be the special guest. Agra Deedy is well known to readers in Habersham. She served as the first featured author for the county’s own community-wide reading campaign One Book Habersham.
Literacy matters
Get Georgia Reading Day highlights the importance of reading and literacy skills for future academic growth and success in the workforce.
Launched in 2012, Read Across Georgia Month supports Gov. Deal’s Grade-Level Reading Initiative, which aims to have all Georgia third-graders reading at grade-level or better by the completion of the third grade.
READ One Book Habersham – Together We Read…”Albert”
The end of the third grade is when students are expected to shift from learning to read to reading to learn. Right now, two-thirds of the state’s third graders can not read proficiently, according to the Get Georgia Reading website.
A book for every school
During Monday’s kickoff, Mrs. Deal will preview an unreleased children’s book that was written, illustrated, printed and published in Georgia. In partnership with the Georgia Forestry Foundation, the Get Georgia Reading Campaign will provide every public elementary school and public library system in the state with a copy of the book.
In upcoming classroom visits, Mrs. Deal will also share with Georgia students “Behind the Little Red Door,” a new book by Georgia author and Zac Brown Band guitarist Coy Bowles.
Feature photo courtesy getgeorgiareading.org
