Ten years ago, your Chamber of Commerce chose to support a Certified Literate Community Program.

A group of thoughtful people did the work and created LIFE, which stands for Learning Is For Everyone.

Those people made a commitment to the state of Georgia that they would raise the literacy levels of 3,706 people in 10 years. This number was half of the adults in our county that did not hold a high school diploma.

We are proud to announce that LIFE has reached that goal—3,706 people have either received their GED, moved closer to earning their GED, learned to read a newspaper or a Bible, learned to read to their babies or how to use an ATM machine.

And one man learned to write his name.

We will officially receive the designation as a Certified Literate Community on July 16 and 17, when an evaluation team from the Georgia Office of Adult Literacy will visit and make the announcement.

This could not have been accomplished without the incredible community support we have enjoyed.

We will highlight those who have been involved during the evaluation visit.

Our work is not done. There are more people that need our help.

One in three adult Georgians read below a fifth-grade reading level.

The Decatur County Certified Literate Community Program will strengthen its support of the Adult Education Program of the Decatur County School System, we will continue to improve the quality of life for our citizens by offering opportunities to improve literacy levels and we will concentrate on raising funds for GED scholarships.

We look forward to celebrating our success and to continuing this vital work.

Debbie McIntyre is the director of the Decatur County Certified Literate Community Program.