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Georgia's Pre-K Program celebrates in Americus

By Jay Polk - bio | email

AMERICUS, GA (WALB) – The boys and girls that gathered in the gymnasium Thursday at Sumter County Primary School may be little, but there's a big number over their heads - one million.  That's because somewhere in the school is the one millionth child to go through Pre-Kindergarten in Georgia.

"Georgia is the first state to serve one million children in their Lottery funded Pre-K program," said Holly Robinson of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Development.

To celebrate the enrollment of the one millionth child, they held a big party Thursday morning at the school.  There was cake, characters in costume and colorful balloons.  There was even a visit from the Governor Perdue, who said that it was a different experience for him when he was the age of the children in the Pre Kindergarten class.

"We socialized a little bit, we mostly played and we took naps," he said.

The program now serves 82,000 children statewide, including 260 in Sumter County.  Children in the program go through a standard curriculum designed to give them a good foundation when they get to the next level.

Robinson said, "they do a lot of language development, a lot of literacy, fluency, words, word pronunciation.  They also learn a lot of numbers."

Thursday's celebration marking the one millionth child to join Georgia's Pre Kindergarten program is a look back at the past.  But the future of the program is pretty bright as well.

In tight budget times, every item is under the microscope, and the Pre-K program is no exception.  But the governor is hoping that he and the legislature can keep the budget axe away.

"Our recommendations this year are flat funding for the Pre-K program," he said.

Early education is becoming more important as Georgia looks to compete in an increasingly global marketplace.

"That's part of the capital, the human capital that we'll need to grow Georgia economically," said Governor Perdue.

And for the future of Georgians at home as well.

"Every child who goes through the Pre-K program, I believe their life has the potential to be changed, for them, their families, for their whole Posterity," said Governor Perdue.

If the program is successful, then the kids in Pre Kindergarten programs throughout the state will soar to new heights academically in the coming years.

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