Highland Avenue Elementary

First Lady Dianne Bentley visited every class at Highland Elementary School this morning as she continues to promote reading through Alabama.

This school is one of Alabama's torchbearer schools. These are Title I schools that excel academically and set testing records. Their students have great attitudes and manners that reflect in not only their school activities but also in their daily lives.

Thank you to Ms. Kornegay, the principal, for your hospitality, and to the students and teachers for your time.

Although this school is one hundred and ten years old, their decorations and colors make it a lively learning atmosphere. The walls are full of creativity and the classes full of learning!

Donation to HopeLine with Prattville Christian Academy

PRATTVILLE –Prattville Christian Academy’s Key Club has been very busy. On Thursday, October 4, the Key Club Sponsor, teacher Morgan Cook, held a school wide assembly to announce the  PCA Key Club  needed to collect as many used cell phones as possible to donate to Verizon Wireless for the HopeLine project. The members placed collection boxes throughout the school, and within a week PCA students and staff  collected over 200 cell phones  to donate to HopeLine for  victims of domestic violence. HopeLine is an initiative sponsored by Verizon Wireless, which  collects wireless devices and accessories that are no longer used.  The phones and accessories can be refurbished, recycled and/or sold, with phones and proceeds benefiting victims of domestic violence through grants and the donations of wireless phones and services.

First Lady Dianne Bentley was  at Prattville Christian Academy on Friday, October 12  to join members of the Key Club and donate used cell phones to HopeLine. As an advocate for domestic violence victims,  Mrs. Bentley has led various efforts to collect hundreds of cell phones for HopeLine throughout the year. Combined with the phones collected by PCA,  over a thousand phones were donated to Verizon and accepted by the Verizon representative Marcus January.

PCA Key club President Lauren Davis said, “ The PCA Key Club is a service organization, so  we are all  excited to be a part of this effort that exemplifies serving the community through helping victims of domestic violence.”  Morgan Cook was very proud of the effort and results of the phone drive, and said, “ I am really proud to be a part of this project, and we truly appreciate the support of Mrs. Bentley’s office. Her dedication to the HopeLine project inspired us all.”

Read for the Record

One of the best parts about being First Lady is getting to visit schools and meet the students and faculty. Today was Read for the Record Day and Mrs. Bentley had the chance to meet with and visit two schools. Both schools were very welcoming and enthusiastic about her visit and seemed to really enjoy this year's book, Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad.

Mrs. Bentley said that "we teach children to read, but we need to teach them to love to read." As a mother and grandmother, she has always encouraged a love of reading and as First Lady she hopes to spread that to all youth in Alabama.

Thank you to Dannelly Elementary and Flowers Elementary for opening your doors and hearts for our visit.

Blankets with a Blessing

First Lady Dianne Bentley will continue the Blankets with a Blessing Tradition as she collects blankets for those in need again this holiday season. The collection will take place starting October 1, 2012, and will continue through November 13, 2012. Blankets can be turned in to the Governor's Mansion guard gate or the Governor's Mansion Gift Shop on Finley Avenue.

Last year, Mrs. Bentley donated blankets to Safe House in Shelby County for victims of domestic abuse. Mrs. Bentley is an advocate for domestic abuse awareness and hopes to impact the community and help put an end to violence. Kathy Wells, from Safe House of Shelby County, was there to talk about last year's donation. Sunny Borum, a victim of abuse, also came to speak and share her story. Mrs. Bentley thanked everyone for attending and hopes that the people of Alabama will ban together and help one another this year.

Pictured below: Karen Sellers (Family Sunshine Center, Montgomery), Sunny Borum (Victim and Advocate), First Lady Dianne Bentley, Kathy Wells (Safe House of Shelby County)

Visit to the Black Belt

Mrs. Bentley spent one of her last September days visiting quilters and craftsmen in the Black Belt of Alabama. The entire trip was dedicated to highlighting hidden treasures in Alabama and the promotion of the talent available.

Her first stop was Black Belt Treasures in Camden. This store sells art from local artists including sculptures, paintings, and fiber art. She continued to Gaines Ridge, where she met Betty Kennedy, the owner of the facility. This property has been in her family for years and she now serves dinner out of its kitchen. After lunch, Ms. Kennedy showed the First Lady her own quilt collection.

To travel to Gees Bend, Mrs. Bentley boarded the ferry and took a twenty minute ride over the water. She was able to meet three quilting groups as a part of her final stops in the area. The first group works out of the Nutrition Center and showed the First Lady their progress on their latest project. They concluded their visit in song. The next stop was to see the Gees Bend Quilters. This group has become famous for their quilts and happily told that John McCain even bought some of their work.

The final stop was at the Freedom Quilting Bee, where Rennie Miller spends her time. Ms. Miller shared the rich quilting history of the area and of the Quilting Bee, as she showed Mrs. Bentley around her shop. She told of the need to get younger people involved in quilting and talked about renewing interest in the fiber arts.

Mrs. Bentley enjoyed the day for many reasons, but most of all, because she too is a quilter. Mrs. Bentley hopes that these people carry on their quilting traditions and is honored that they allowed her to visit.

National Family Day

First Lady Dianne Bentley was very active yesterday as she honored Family Day. She spent her morning delivering muffins to the local Family Justice Center and her afternoon delivering "S'more Love" baskets to the local domestic violence shelter. This was her small way to reach out to the community and show them the love of a family. It is important, no matter how busy schedules seem to be, to reach out and do something for others. Even though these gestures were small, it is the thoughtful reminder that makes the difference.

She spent her evening with the youth of Safety Net. Around thirty people gathered together to eat dinner as a family and as Mrs. Bentley asked the blessing she thanked the Lord for each life. They spent the night eating hotdogs, hamburgers, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. After dinner, everyone spilled onto the front porch and into the yard to play cornhole. It was a great evening that filled South Perry Street with laughter.

It is important to spend time together and just enjoy being a family. The First Lady was honored to celebrate Family Day and hopes that everyone in the state of Alabama enjoyed theirs too.

Visit to Carver Elementary in Montgomery

This morning First Lady Dianne Bentley visited Carver Elementary to meet students and faculty as a part of her efforts to promote education and reading throughout Alabama. The kindergartners were very interactive and loved not only the story but also sharing about their own lives.

After the reading, Mrs. Bentley enjoyed songs by first grade students and was able to tour the rest of the school. Carver Elementary works as a magnet school and is able to offer a variety of art options for the students. The First Lady observed students in strings classes, piano classes, art classes, drama, and even got to view the dance studio. It is the hope of the faculty that students will realize their talents early and be able to use them throughout life.

The First Lady was very impressed with the school and all that they offer their students and the community. She admires their work to promote parent involvement and parent programming as well as their focus on getting students committed to their education. Carver offers math workshops for students and parents as well as other workshops during the school year to ensure that everyone is gaining the most from this education.

Mrs. Bentley looks forward to visiting again and participating in school activities.