Georgia's First Lady Visits CDA

Pre-K students at the were all ears when Georgia’s First Lady Sandra Deal read a book to them last week. Then they reciprocated by singing a spirited rendition of "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom," the hit book by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault in which the letters of the alphabet have a race up a coconut tree.

Deal visited Pre-K classes at the CDA and three other North Fulton schools on March 23 as part of her “Read Across Georgia” campaign. She launched the initiative earlier this year in support of Governor Nathan Deal’s goal of increasing the percentage of children reading at grade level by the completion of third grade.

She was joined by Bobby Cagle, Commissioner of Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, which administers Georgia’s nationally recognized Pre-K program.

“Education is the door to opportunity,” Deal, a former teacher, told staff and board of trustee members on her arrival at the CDA. She emphasized the importance of early education for laying the groundwork for all future academic and career endeavors.

In a media release, Cagle referenced statistics showing the vital roles of early learning programs.

“Children who cannot read at third grade level by the time they finish third grade are more likely to drop out of school, go to prison, and have higher unemployment rates later in life,” Cagle said.

The CDA, one of Roswell’s oldest non-profits, is dedicated to providing high quality early care and learning programs to children of low-income working parents. In addition to its three Pre-K classes, the CDA serves toddlers and preschoolers with nationally accredited early learning programs that are affordable to low-income parents because of generous tuition scholarships.

As the First Lady and Commissioner Cagle wrapped up their visit, CDA Executive Director Donna Smythe pointed out, “The CDA is so committed to Pre-K that we go above and beyond what is funded by the state. Additional charitable funds allow us, for example, to pay our assistant teachers a higher wage that what the state provides so that we can get well-qualified teachers.”

The First Lady’s goal is to visit every Georgia school district over the next three years. Also in north Fulton last week, she and Cagle visited Pre-K classes at Lake Forest Elementary School, , and in Roswell.

Her reading selection was "Who I'd like To Be" by Georgia resident Elizabeth Brown.

"The author was 90 years old when she wrote this book. She couldn't drive anymore, and she was in a wheelchair. She asked her eight-year-old great-granddaughter to draw the pictures,” Mrs. Deal explained to CDA students. “I hope you will learn to do that because we need more Georgia authors and illustrators."