Faculty, students, trustees and special guests gathered at Blackshear Elementary Fine Arts Academy on May 18 as the school received a grant from the .
Blackshear was one of six Austin SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ schools to receive grants that totaled $37,000.
The former first lady—who once served ASA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½'s students as a librarian at Dawson Elementary School—was on hand to talk about the importance of reading.
"This is a happy day for me to be here at ASA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½," Bush said. "This is where my girls went to high school. It's fun to be in this school district that means so much to me."
Six schools in Austin SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ will receive grants up to $7,000 each, as part of more than $820,000 in grants being awarded to 123 schools in 35 states.
Other ASA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ schools to earn grants were Uphaus Early Childhood Center, Dobie Pre-Kindergarten Center, Reilly Elementary School, Palm Elementary School and Travis High School.
Blackshear's librarian, Roger Grape, wrote the grant proposal to the foundation after taking part in a grant-writing workshop in the fall.
"We realized Blackshear had a need for more books on the arts to go along with [our] fine arts program," Grape said. "Books nowadays are between $20–$35, but e-books are accessible via any Internet-based device. We constantly have to be looking for grant opportunities to keep our library relevant."