On Friday, May 12, GMC will recognize the importance of mothers during its 2017 Mother’s Day Parade. Members of GMC’s 138th Corps of Cadets will participate in this event held on Grant Parade Field at 8:00 a.m. GMC has the distinct pleasure of having First Lady Sandra Deal as the guest speaker. This event is free and open to the public.

First Lady Sandra Deal’s Bio

First Lady Sandra Deal, the daughter of educators, has dedicated her life to encouraging childhood education. As a Georgia public school teacher, she taught for more than 15 years and retired as a sixth-grade middle school teacher in Hall County. She has furthered those efforts in her role as Georgia’s First Lady, and promoting literacy has been one of her top priorities. As part of her “Read Across Georgia” tour, Sandra has visited and read to all 159 counties and 181 school districts to encourage student reading. To date, she has visited nearly 700 schools in Georgia, encouraging students to love reading and to become “life-long learners.” Like her husband, the First Lady believes a good education is the key to future success. Community service and volunteering is also a top focus of the First Lady’s. To that end, Sandra launched “With a Servant’s Heart” in 2011. What began as a statewide day of service quickly grew into regular participation in community service programs and volunteer events across Georgia.

The First Lady serves as Co-Chair of the Georgia Children’s Cabinet, which coordinates policies and resources to improve outcomes for children and families. Among other issues, the First Lady provides leadership on child welfare and juvenile justice issues in Georgia. Sandra grew up in Gainesville and graduated from Georgia College & State University. The Deals have been married for 50 years and have four children and six grandchildren. They are members of First Baptist Church in Gainesville.