Chambliss, wife of U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, said traveling around Georgia to talk with teachers and students in schools is her favorite thing to do. She reads, teaches government classes, including how a bill is passed into law, or "anything they want me to do."  

"I go all over the state and talk to teachers about issues," Chambliss said. "I would really like to be the voice for teachers in Washington."  

The reading program at G.O. Bailey, sponsored by the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence (TCFEE), Tift County schools and the Tifton Rotary Club, began in November. The program identified students at the school who have younger brothers and sisters at home. TCFEE and school administrators met with parents to explain the program, that encourages the older children, parents and grandparents to read to the younger siblings.  

"The children who are reading have gotten very interested and the mothers are feeling it is helping the older children, who are becoming the teachers. It instills a feeling of responsibility in the older child," said Mike Brumby, TCFEE Executive Director.  

The primary school-age children are considered ambassadors — bringing their families to school and the school to their families. Ambassadors can bring in a color-coded time card to G.O. Bailey's cafeteria every morning between 7:30 and 8:30.  

"They fill in the time they started reading and the time they finished," Brumby said. "We try to get them to read 15 minutes each day and we keep up with the data."  

When children turn in their cards, they receive a candy prize. Most students who participate bring back the two books they read the night before to swap for two new books to read that night.  

Brumby said he often visits the school during the hour and talk to children about what they are reading. Beginning this week, Brumby said, the younger children at home will be given a new "nice" book to add to their own collection.  

"It's all an attempt to get these children reading and arriving at school better prepared," Brumby said.  

Chambliss commended the TCFEE for reading programs available in the community.  

"You can be any kind of 'capital of the world,' but to be the Reading Capital is the most wonderful thing," Chambliss said. "Without reading, what do you have?  

"The basis of No Child Left Behind is getting children to read."