Clarke County

Jill Biden, Secretary of Education stop by Georgia to highlight American Rescue Plan

ATHENS, Ga — The First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden wrapped up a three-state summer learning program tour in Georgia on Thursday afternoon.

Channel 2′s Audrey Washington was live at the University of Georgia on Thursday, where the first lady and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited Children at the Horizons Atlanta program.

Dr. Biden and Cardona toured a Horizons National summer learning program being held at the University of Georgia.

The program serves students from Barnett Shoals Elementary School in Athens.

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The tour was meant to highlight the effects President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan is having on getting students caught up over the summer.

“The students came back, and it was a little harder to form a community in the classroom because a lot of students have learning loss and a lot of students have not been around anybody for a long time,” Biden said. “We knew we had to help our children whether it was academically, socially, or emotionally. These were all important parts of it.”

Parents with children in the program told Channel 2 on Thursday that the funding has been a lifesaver.

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Jeri Whitney, a parent, said she could see how the Horizons Atlanta Program has helped out her son.

“This has been an amazing opportunity,” Whitney said. “Catch up in reading. It’s given him an opportunity in socialization.”

The first lady and secretary have visited other summer learning programs being supported by the ARP in Connecticut and Michigan over the last few days.

After her husband announced a positive test for COVID-19 on Thursday, Jill Biden announced she had tested negative.

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