Melanie Turner, media specialist at C.A. Gray Junior High School, applied for and received a $5,000 grant to improve the school’s library.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — C.A. Gray Junior High School recently received the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries grant. More than $930,000 was awarded to 160 schools across the nation. Gray is one of eight schools in Georgia to obtain the grant, and it is the only school in south Georgia with that honor.

Media specialist Melanie Turner said, “Our $5,000 award will be used to update Gray’s library print collection with an emphasis on this school year’s student survey results and systematic weeding. We will also add options to the Peer Assisted Learning Materials (PALS) books for use with Gray’s weekly reading intervention. Additionally, new e-books with multimedia components will also be available to all students through our online catalog system, Destiny. I am so excited to have the opportunity to boost students’ interest in reading and Lexile levels with these new materials.”

Principal Fred Smith said, “Over the school past year, I’ve seen the instructional activities and learning experiences that are taking place in the Charlie Augustus Gray Junior High School media center being taken to a whole new level since Mrs. Melanie Turner has become the media specialist. She mentioned to me early in the school year that she wanted to enhance the library by petitioning for a grant to update some of the older books that were in the media center to support the interest of the current population of students. As a principal, it’s powerful when you have leaders in your building that take the initiative to improve the school without being told to do so. That’s why I’m confident that the support from this grant will further the efforts and mission of our school to prepare our learners to ‘Choose to Work Smart’ here at C.A. Gray and on to the high school.”