Metz Elementary School and The Library Foundation are partnering to create a student-centered legacy project for Metz Elementary, which has enriched the neighboring community through education, cultural enrichment, and social connection for more than a century. The school will close at the end of the year, as the Austin Independent School District consolidates several East Austin elementary school campuses. Next year, Metz students will join children from two other schools to attend another consolidated campus.
 

Metz History
The Metz school has long been a focal point of advocacy for underserved communities. In the 1970s community leaders, faculty, administrators, and students rallied to insist on equal funding for neglected schools in predominantly Hispanic communities. Cesar Chavez visited Metz to applaud and support the efforts of these leaders. Their success led to new programs and special projects, including the Metz Publishing Company and art mural projects. Eventually, the community succeeded in securing a new building to replace its aging facility. In recent years, advocacy has included many new cultures as Metz has welcomed children from many new immigrant and refugee families.

Metz Legacy Project
The funding requested for this project will support the following:

• Eleven 6-week workshops to serve students in grades K through 5. Each workshop will be led by a Badgerdog teaching artist (a professional writer), who will expose students to different creative and literary techniques, and guide students through the process of seeing, reflecting, and creating in response to their relationship with the school community.
• Publication of an anthology containing work from all participating students. Different sections of the anthology will feature students’ pieces about different aspects of the building, but also aspects of the community connected to the school itself. The print run will provide 1 free copy to each participating student, plus additional copies for teachers, administrators, parents, the Austin History Center, and libraries at neighboring elementary schools.
• A celebratory event in May of 2019 saluting the impact of Metz Elementary, featuring students reading from the anthology, student artwork, and more.

The Metz Legacy Project will utilize The Library Foundation’s Badgerdog Creative Writing program to facilitate writing workshops for all Metz students in grades K through 5. The workshops will allow students to reflect on their impressions of the school and how they see the school’s history reaching back through time--the students who came before them, aspects of the building and “school spirit” that have left their mark on generations of learners and families. The students’ written work will be collected and published in a school-wide anthology memorializing Metz Elementary.
 

Join the Project
This is a significant moment in the history of East Austin, marking for Metz Elementary 102 years of public school service to children and families in the neighboring community. This is an exciting opportunity to work with a well-established arts partner to support current students, alumni, and families in celebrating and memorializing the school’s pivotal role in the history of Austin.

All donors will be included in the list of sponsors in the printed anthology. For donors contributing more than $250, we will send you a copy of the printed anthology.

About The Library Foundation & Badgerdog Creative Writing Program: The Library Foundation is an independent nonprofit supporting the Austin Public Library by raising awareness, funds, and developing programs that enhance the library’s impact in the community. The Foundation’s Badgerdog Creative Writing Program brings professional writers into school classrooms and community spaces to lead writing workshops with people of all ages and skill levels. All Badgerdog programs strive to publish the work of participating writers online and in print, and celebrate the writers in its programs with reading events in school campuses, libraries, and venues throughout Austin.