Laura Bush to Speak at International Literacy Day Sept. 6

WACO, Texas - Laura W. Bush, First Lady of Texas, will be the featured speaker at the seventh annual International Literacy Day celebration from noon to 1:45 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, in the Barfield Drawing Room of Baylor University's Bill Daniel Student Center.
A luncheon from noon to 12:45 p.m. will be held before the presentation in which state Sen. David Sibley, state Rep. Barbara Rusling and Waco Mayor Mike Morrison are scheduled to attend. President Robert B. Sloan Jr. will welcome Bush and the other guests to Baylor.
Sponsored by the Central Texas Literacy Coalition (CTLC), International Literacy Day celebrates the successes of the year in the fight against illiteracy throughout the world.
Organized in 1988, the CTLC is made up of 80 individuals and 24 organizations, including Baylor's Center for Adult Learning and Baptist Literacy Missions Center.
The CTLC coordinates training for adult literacy education and facilitates General Educational Development scholarships. The coalition also helps community literacy organizations prepare people to take the high school diploma equivalency exam, teach English as a second language (ESL) and help people learn how to become American citizens.
"We are very honored to have Laura Bush helping promote public awareness of the literacy problem in McLennan County," said Maurine Frost, coordinator for the Baptist Literacy Missions Center. "International Literacy Day is designed to reach out to the wider public and elicit active support for new and existing literacy programs."
Bush is a former public elementary school librarian from Midland and is helping to support Gov. George W. Bush's Reading Initiative Program for Texas. Gov. Bush instituted the program to ensure every third grader in Texas public schools can read well before being promoted.
For more information, contact Frost at (817) 755-3854.