Obama joined Cocky’s Reading Express™ and took her place in front of a group of eager 4-year-olds at the University of South Carolina's Child Care Center where she read two books to them as their parents, media and South Carolina faculty looked on.

Obama, the mother of two young girls, seemed right at home with the bright, inquisitive preschoolers who were oblivious that they were part of a history making moment. She slipped easily into the role of mother and teacher as she animatedly read “The Big Hungry Bear” and “Olivia” to the youngsters.

Cocky’s Reading Express™ is a student-led literacy project done in cooperation with the university’s School of Library and Information Science and its South Carolina Center for Children’s Books and Literacy. Read more>

After reading to the class, some of the students’ parents, along with University First Lady Donna Sorensen and Child Care Center staff, joined Michelle Obama for a roundtable discussion on the importance of early childhood education. She commended the University for its commitment to providing quality child care to the community and said that the Child Care Center could serve as a model program for others around the country.

Video by Shawn Rourk,
College of Mass Communications and Information Studies