At A. Z. Kelley we are so grateful to have many wonderful Pencil Partners. Pencil Partners are churches or businesses who desire to help the school by donating food, time, and/or money to help the faculty educate children.

Our very first Pencil Partner was The Olive Branch Missionary Baptist Church. Since the school building was not available for students until the first day of school in 2006, The Olive Branch Missionary Baptist Church hosted the first parent meeting. Currently, the pastor is Vincent Windrow and his assistant is Linda Jones. The Olive Branch Church generously donated $1,000 in 2006 to purchase a computer for classroom use and continues to give financially to benefit our school.  “Pastor Vinnie” has given gifts and encouragement to the faculty and staff. He has also served on school committees as a community representative.

Shoney’s, located on Cane Ridge Road, has donated food each year for the opening day parent reception. The Shoney Bear also came to greet students and parents on the first day of school in 2006. We would specifically like to thank Heidi Carmen and Christina McNamara of Shoney’s for their support.

Greenvale Homes is a construction company that has donated time, money, and skills to help our school look as beautiful as it is. Specifically we would like to thank Chris Bratcher, Kelly Ginn, and Mark Thomason. Mr. Thomason pledged to help our school with technology needs and followed with a $10,000 donation! Employees from Greenvale Homes have come to our school to hang or mount many things on our walls or to build much needed shelving.

Publix, located on Concord Road, has donated food on countless occasions for faculty meetings and in-services as well as parent meetings. Publix provided bottled water for all of our students during the Jump Rope for Heart event. We appreciate Phil Bracaglia and the generosity of Publix grocery store. Phil, along with other employees of Publix offered their time and guidance with the Junior Achievement Program in 2006-07.

Yazdian Construction Company, owned by Fred and Karen Yazdian, is another one of our wonderful Pencil Partners. After visiting the school with Sam Coleman, Fred Yazdian quickly decided to donate $10,000 to help with our technology needs as well as a plasma flat screen television for the media center!

Kroger, located on Nolensville Pike, has donated food many times for parent meetings, faculty meetings, and staff in-services. Someone from Kroger is quick to call and offer many seasonal left-over items for us to use as fundraisers. Kroger also gave the school a $333 gift card. We thank Rick Barber and Tim Dawson for their support of our school.

We at A. Z. Kelley greatly value the support of churches and companies in our local community. If you desire for your church or company to become a Pencil Partner, please contact the principal.


The PENCIL Foundation is a nonprofit organizaion that connects the private sector with MNPS.