Hamilton County school board member George Ricks, right, talks to Gladys Pankey about the upcoming visit of education activist Geoffrey Canada. Volunteers went door to door in the Harriet Tubman Development on Saturday morning asking parents to to turn out when Canada visit Hardy Elementary School on Feb. 15.Standing in the door of his apartment in the Harriet Tubman housing development, James Tumbling scanned the flier that Anita Pickett had just handed him.
The paper was an invitation to see nationally known education reformer Geoffrey Canada, who is visiting Chattanooga this month.
“This looks pretty important,” Tumbling said.
“Do you think we’d be out in this cold if it wasn’t important?” Pickett called out over her shoulder as she moved on to the next apartment. “This is for our kids.”
Pickett and more than 30 volunteers knocked on doors throughout East Chattanooga on Saturday to spread the word about Canada’s Feb. 15 visit and invite local residents to get involved in their children’s education.