First lady Frances Strickland says converting registered voters into likely voters is important to her husband’s gubernatorial campaign.

Strickland, wife of Gov. Ted Strickland, met with a small group of students Wednesday afternoon at the Shawnee State University’s University Center.

“I’m making the rounds in some of the southern counties. I started out in Jackson. I’m here, and I will be going to Waverly, then to Chillicothe, then back to Meigs County,” Strickland said. “Ted has a lead among most of the registered voters, but he is down a point or two among likely voters. So we’ve got to turn more of the registered voters into likely voters.”

Strickland talked about the importance of higher education in the state.

“Education is the seed bed of the future,” Strickland said. “If you’re talking about helping in a changing economy, and you want to move to the future in a solid way, you can not ignore education.”

Student questions dealt mainly with jobs and education, and one, from an education major, brought up the governor’s suggestion of extending the school year.

“The whole thing about extending the school year is about more time for learning,” Strickland said. “We keep talking about how our country is not holding up on its achievement tests like other countries. Other countries are in session for students another 40 to 60 more days in the school year. So what Ted is talking about is adding 20 more, hopefully spreading them out over a period of time. There’s a disparity between the kind of learning the kids get outside of school.”