Gwinnett Daily Post

DULUTH - This fall, Georgia's Pre-K Program will become the first in the nation to serve its millionth child, Georgia first lady Mary Perdue said Wednesday.

Speaking at the Gwinnett Center at an annual training session for Pre-K project directors, Perdue praised those who work with 4-year-olds in the state's universal prekindergarten program.

"I know what you are doing is making a difference for the rest of their lives," she said. "I believe there is nothing more important than our investment in the lives of other people."

More than 81,000 children will be served this year by the Georgia Lottery-funded program, which started in 1993, said Holly Robinson, commissioner of Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.

There are 143 sites in Gwinnett County that offer the free prekindergarten classes. All but two of them - Gwinnett County Public School's Maxwell High School of Technology and Gwinnett Technical Center's Hudgens Early Education Center - are private sites.

For more information about Bright from the Start, visit www.decal.ga.gov.