THOMASVILLE- Residents were in for a treat on Thursday night when they attended Literacy for Thomas County’s annual Literacy Fair featuring Valdosta native and former Super Bowl champion Malcolm Mitchell.

Mitchell was raised in Valdosta, where he played football and was named to the Under Armour All-American team his senior year. He went on to play for the University of Georgia, finishing as a top 10 all-time receiver.

However, Mitchell’s real achievements happened off the field.

During his time at UGA, Mitchell was recognized as the national captain of the All-State Good Works Team for his frequent visits to elementary schools to read to students and discuss literacy.

Mitchell was the first student to win this award at UGA and would go on to win the National Higher Achievement Award for his success beyond athletics. Mitchell’s love for literacy led him to receive a degree in communications in 2015 from UGA. In addition to adding a degree to his list of achievements, Mitchell was also able to say he published a book. In 2015, he authored his first children’s book, “The Magician’s Hat,” through a youth literacy initiative known as Read with Malcolm.

In 2016, Mitchell established his foundation, the Share the Magic Foundation, whose sole purpose was to transform children’s lives through literacy. The foundation is responsible for events like the Literacy Fair, which connected local organizations and resources to families with reading-aged children.

During the event, all children in attendance received a copy of Mitchell’s children’s book, “My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World.” Additionally, children were able to understand the importance of reading, while interacting with a magician, who needed his instructions to perform tricks for the children.

Mitchell told the students that growing up he loved to play football more than anything. However, during his time playing his favorite sport, he said he learned a very important lesson.

“As I got older, I realized life was not just about football,” he said. “My ability to run really fast and jump really high didn’t determine the value of my life and didn’t determine the value of the community I grew up in. There was something else out there that would give me the resources I wanted to live life to its fullest potential.”

That something else was learning to read.

Reading was a magical experience for Mitchell, who brought along a magician to prove just how magical books can truly be.

He taught kids the importance of bookshops and the variety of unique reads they carry, including his magic book.

His magic book started blank before those in the crowd threw imaginary markers at it to turn the pages full of colorful drawings.

Attendees were stunned to see the amazing transformation of a book that could be found at a local bookstore and the endless possibilities that one story could have.

Upon the conclusion of the magic show, Mitchell returned to the stage, where he read “My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World,” which was based loosely on his childhood experience.

The book detailed a child who was required to bring a book to class, but the student struggled to find a book that didn’t have confusing words and wasn’t too long or difficult. The trouble of locating a book to bring back to class, led to the student writing his own short story, filled with drawings detailing his journey to find “the perfect book.”

“The truth is I struggled to read,” Mitchell said. “I was fearless on the football field… I had no issue running into a 300 lb. person as fast as I could, but if you put a book in front of me, I would seize up and get nervous, but I realized I had to overcome that fear to get the most out of life.”

In order to do this, Mitchell said he began to practice reading just as much as he practiced football. Slowly, reading became easier.

“I realized being a proficient reader impacts every aspect of our life, rather we want it to or not,” he said. “I realized the thing that was plaguing the community I grew up in was the fact no one was walking around or celebrating books, because they didn’t truly understand what this resource could do for us for us as a society.”

Mitchell concluded by encouraging parents to read to their children and celebrate reading inside of their homes, as children are much more likely to respond if they see a parent engaging. To ensure every parent had a book to read, each parent and child was provided a copy of “My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World.” .