On Monday, Aug. 20, First Lady Sandra Deal paid a visit to Centennial Academy and Westside 
Atlanta Charter School.聽The special school stops were part of the First Lady鈥檚 鈥淩ead Across Georgia鈥� initiative. The program supports Gov. Nathan Deal鈥檚 goal to increase the percentage of children who can read at grade level by the time they complete the third grade.聽
During her visit to Centennial,聽First Lady Sandra Deal read聽Library Mouse聽to Ms. Hanna Poston’s third-grade class.
“It was an honor to have First Lady Deal come and read to our third-grade scholars,鈥� said Keisha Blythers, Head of Centennial Academy鈥檚 Elementary Division. “She made the fictional story of a mystery mouse secretly writing books in a library at night come to life for the scholars. They were eager to ask and answer questions about the story. This experience was a win, win for everyone involved.”聽
Centennial聽Academy聽administrators say they have placed an intentional focus on core academics to increase reading and literacy skills through personnel and programmatic shifts, as well as the implementation of new partnerships, focused specifically on reading and literacy skill development.
While visiting Westside Atlanta Charter School, Mrs. Deal read Will Powers Where There’s a 
Will There’s a Way聽to first and second-grade students. 聽As a former teacher, Mrs. Deal connected with all of the聽students, asking them questions and encouraging their responses throughout the book. Mrs highlighted the importance of education, hard work, and perseverance. 聽
“With language and literacy at Westside’s聽core, we appreciated聽Mrs. Deal’s engaging questions focused on reading comprehension for young readers,”聽said Delana Reeves, principal of Westside Atlanta Charter School. 聽
Along with Georgia’s First Lady, Westside welcomed school board members Erika Mitchell (District 5) and Byron聽Amos (District 2) to their new campus in the former Archer High School building. The new space allows Westside more opportunities to host events and welcome visitors.聽聽
