On Monday, November 15^th, former Major League Baseball outfielder and National Football League safety Brian O'Neal Jordan visited West Chatham Elementary School to speak to students about the importance of reading.  In 1998, Jordan – who played for the both the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Falcons - founded the Brian Jordan Foundation, which helps children strive to reach their full potential.  Part of the mission of his non-profit organization is to encourage literacy.

Brian Jordan has partnered with several school systems in the state to build and pilot a reading incentive program, reaching thousands of third grade students with the goal of improving reading proficiency, teaching goal setting, and building a love for books during the crucial 3rd grade year.  The Brian Jordan Foundation is dedicated and determined to help children through literacy awareness.  The goal of the literacy program is to inform children and their parents about the importance of reading and how it can affect the world in which they live.

Brian Jordan has authored several children's books "I Told You I Can Play," “Overcoming the Fear of the Baseball" and "Time-Out For Bullies".  He is passionate about preparing young children for reading and motivating school-age children to read regularly.  "I Told You I Can Play," is a chronicle of how he followed his heart to show young people that they can do anything, if they put their minds to it.   Students he met with at West Chatham Elementary on Monday received a copy of the book to read along with him as he narrated the story.

See more photos from the event here.