AMERICUS — It was a one in a million shot, but the one millionth child in Georgia’s Pre-K program walked through the doors of Sumter County Primary School. The achievement by not only the school, but also by the Georgia Pre-K Program, will garner a visit from Gov. Sonny and Mary Perdue to kick off a special celebration at the school on Feb. 18. Georgia is the first state in the nation to serve more than one million Pre-K children in a voluntary, universal, lottery-funded program.

“It is a tremendously exciting time for us,” said Valerie Duff, principal, Sumter County Primary School, “because the Pre-K Program has been so critical to our school’s success, in that it has children ready to learn whenever they start kindergarten. I know that it is the case across the state, and not just here.”

Duff stated that even though officials are coming to celebrate the Pre-K Program, they have encouraged the school and community to be a part of the celebration as well. “This is going to provide a great chance to show off what we are doing in our school and what we are all about,” said Duff. The Americus-Sumter County High School band, cheerleaders from Sumter County Middle School, as well as the ROTC, will also participate in the event.

Bright from the Start (Georgia’s Pre-K Program) Commissioner Holly A. Robinson, echoed Duff’s sentiments on the Program. “We are thrilled with the outpouring of support that the Millionth Child Celebration has received. This exciting campaign could not have been successful without our generous partners, outstanding providers and teachers, and most importantly, the one million children who have benefited from Georgia’s Pre-K Program.”

Commemorative Millionth Child Celebration activities began last year and will continue through 2010. The celebration was launched in April 2009, by Georgia First Lady Mary Perdue who read “How Much is a Million?” to a group of Georgia’s Pre-K children. She and the Governor chose the book in honor of this milestone. Other activities include the Million Book Campaign challenging everyone in Georgia to read to children. So far, more than 622,000 books have been logged in.

“The millionth child campaign emphasizes the importance of a quality learning experience that includes a strong early literacy program for all of Georgia’s children,” said Mary Mazarky, assistant commissioner for Pre-K.

The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning administers the nationally recognized Georgia’s Pre-K Program. High quality learning experiences are emphasized for every child participating in the program which has been in existence 16 years. During the 2009-2010 school year, 82,000 children in approximately 4,100 classrooms in every county in the state are being served.

Duff stated that the school does not know who exactly is the millionth child, they are all “one in a million” to them. “We have to upload our rosters five times a year to the state,” said Duff. “They didn’t notify us until this week, but apparently this child entered in August, when we uploaded this roster, but we won’t know who exactly it is. All of them are special to us though.”

Sponsors for the Governor’s visit are also bringing in some more special guests and gifts for not only the students, but the school as well. The sponsors are bringing T-shirts for all the students that read “one in a million.” Clifford the Big Red Dog will make an appearance, cake will be served, and the school will get a whole new Pre-K classroom.

Duff stated that with all the celebration that comes along with being the school housing the millionth child, it’s more a testament to the Pre-K Program and its benefits. “We have made AYP for 10 years in a row. In fact, there are only 10 other Title I schools in the state who have done that,” said Duff, “and I think that Pre-K has a direct impact on that. I think that its mainly due to the program getting the students ready to learn.”