Georgia Power Celebrates 10th Year of Support for Georgia Pre-K Week

Georgia Power has partnered with the nonprofit organization Voices for Georgia’s Children and the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning for the tenth consecutive year to celebrate Pre-K Week across the state. The goal of Pre-K Week is to reinforce the importance of quality early childhood education and to give legislators and local leaders around the state a chance to visit and read in classrooms for a first-hand experience in their communities. 

“Georgia Power is proud to partner with Voices for Georgia’s Children to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of a quality Pre-K,” said Joseph Lillyblad, Director of Education and Workforce Development at Georgia Power. “We know that early childhood education is incredibly important to a child’s success, high school graduation rates and how we build the workforce of tomorrow. We’re excited to be part of preparing our youngest learners to be tomorrow’s leaders and innovators.” 

“A considerable amount of research has proven that children who have access to quality early learning settings arrive at kindergarten more prepared than their peers,” said Dr. Caitlin McMunn Dooley, Executive Director of Voices for Georgia’s Children. “Not only do these students sustain gains made in pre-k through kindergarten, but the research also shows that quality pre-k education is still making a positive impact in the 4th grade.”

Georgia’s Pre-K Program, administered by the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), is a voluntary, free program available to all of Georgia’s four-year-olds, regardless of parental income. Since its inception in 1992, Georgia's Pre-K Program has served more than 2 million students.  

This year’s official Pre-K Week book is Cheer! A Book to Celebrate Community by Uncle Ian Aurora. Georgia Power’s Learning Power team will be reading the book Look Now, Wonder, Wow!  The book is part of the company's own Learning Power program; a statewide education initiative focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects and designed to bring energy education to the classroom. Additionally, Georgia Power employee volunteers are encouraged to read at a local Pre-K center, where they will be reading other children’s favorites. In total, company representatives expect to read to more than 10,000 children throughout the month of October.