In honor of National Pencil Day on March 30, Shepenco (asi/86850) recently donated over 9,100 pencils to students in Shelbyville, TN.

From March 21-22, the fourth-generation supplier visited each school in the Bedford County School District, giving out pencils to elementary, middle and high school students. As a bonus history lesson, the donation commemorated Hymen Lipman receiving the first patent for attaching an eraser to the end of a pencil on March 30, 1858.

“Delivering pencils to all of the students in our school and all of the schools in our district is a huge blessing,” said Neil Watson, principal of Harris Middle School. “These #2 pencils are coming right in time for our Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) testing. We are very thankful for the Shelbyville Pencil Company and how they are uniquely involved with our community.”

Shepenco says it plans on making this a yearly initiative to aid the shortage of school supplies that many schools experience daily.