First Lady Returns to Partnership Schools In Middle Tennessee

First Lady Crissy Haslam began her second round of school visits in Davidson and Wilson counties

NASHVILLE – First Lady Crissy Haslam began her second round of visits to schools in Middle Tennessee today.  Haslam announced in May that she would partner with 10 schools across the state to focus on improving literacy rates, including Gateway Elementary in Nashville and Coles Ferry Elementary in Lebanon.  As part of this partnership, Haslam plans to visit these schools several times throughout the 2011-2012 school year.

Mrs. Haslam’s second visit to Gateway and Coles Ferry Elementary schools this week included meetings with school administrators, emphasizing the significance of parental engagement with guardians and parents and promoting her READ 20 message with students at each school.

The Tennessee Department of Education selected the 10 partnership schools based on their 3rd grade TCAP reading scores, which were below the state average, but showed promise for great improvement. On this round of visits, Mrs. Haslam will discuss their progress and learn about their plans to increase reading proficiency.

“Reading for 20 minutes each day will ensure that children are starting off right to succeed later in life,” Mrs. Haslam said. “On my first school visit, I learned that one of the biggest challenges for schools to promote reading was that many of the students did not have books in their homes.”

As part of her visits to schools all across Tennessee, Mrs. Haslam will personally donate and distribute books to students at each school.