By John I. Carney

Staff Writer

Miss Tennessee, Chandler Lawson of Tullahoma, visited all of Marshall County's elementary schools on Friday to encourage students to do their best on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) test.

Lawson mentioned the test during an appearance at Marshall Elementary School, and her first mention of it drew little enthusiasm.

"Don't sound so excited, you guys," she joked.

She encouraged students to try to remain calm, to get plenty of sleep, and to eat a good breakfast on test days, all of which are cited as ways to improve test performance.

Students were asked to sign a pledge to "do their best on the test" -- but the pledge wasn't written on paper. It was in a banner attached to an old school bus, and the children signed the bus with Sharpies handed to them by teachers. As students from one grade were outside signing the bus, Lawson posed for group photos with another grade inside.

Tammy Lewis, coordinator of elementary education for Marshall County schools, escorted Lawson to each school. She appeared at Oak Grove Elementary, Westhills Elementary, Marshall Elementary, Cornersville Elementary and Chapel Hill Elementary.

Lawson was named Miss Tennessee in June 2012. She serves as Gov. Bill Haslam's official spokesperson for character education and speaks about the character trait of caring in visits to schools throughout the state. She is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a bachelor's degree in political science and has been accepted to the University of Tennessee School of Law. She is the founder of 5 Loaves 4 Kids, a childhood hunger charity in Tullahoma.