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ALACHUA – Tables of students with their noses pressed into books at the Santa Fe High School Media Center witnessed Dollar General give the school a Christmas gift.

“I was thinking they were giving us $500 or $1,000, so that’s what I was anticipating,” said principal Elizabeth LeClear.

The gift turned out to be $40,000.

“I couldn’t even speak,” LeClear said.

On Wednesday Dec. 18, Dollar General distribution center director, Alain Arrendell, went to Santa Fe High School and held a presentation looking at the importance of literature and reading.

At the end of the presentation, the school was awarded with a black and yellow box containing a check for $40,000 to go toward literature. The goal, he said, was to create a “reading revolution.”

Right now, the school has not discussed what books will be bought with the money, said Santa Fe High School principal LeClear. However, the staff plans to get together after the holidays and determine the use of the money.

LeClear said she hopes a portion of the money will go to expanding the nonfiction literature section in the media center and purchase technology like iPads and Nook tablets.

Any program or use that promotes literacy is acceptable, Arrendell said.

The amount of money donated to the school took LeClear by surprise.

Dollar General has supported Santa Fe High School in more than just its literacy program, but also has helped sponsor teams and worked with the teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week.

Media specialist Georgeana Moore said that while Dollar General has been supportive of the high school throughout the years, she never expected the school to be awarded so much money.

“It just knocked our socks off,” she said.

Dollar General chose Santa Fe High School because of its proximity to Dollar General stores in Alachua. Arrendell said it also had to do with the number of parents of students at the school that work at the stores.

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