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Country Star Makes School Donation

By Associated Press

Spavinaw, OK – McEntire donates $60K to rural Oklahoma school

SPAVINAW, Okla. (AP) Officials in the rural northeastern Oklahoma town of Spavinaw say a $60,000 donation from country legend Reba McEntire will help keep the local school district afloat.

Superintendent Guy Alloway says the school, built in the late 1920s, was on the verge of closing and "$60,000 in the hole" before the gift from McEntire, an Oklahoma native. The pre-kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school has 130 students and like other Oklahoma districts is struggling with deep state budget cuts.

Nikki Burns, a spokeswoman for Big Machine Records, declined to discuss the specifics of McEntire's donation. Burns says McEntire's desire was to draw publicity to the Mayes County school, not herself.

Alloway says the district solicited funds from about 30 celebrities and financial leaders and McEntire was the first to respond.

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Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.