SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Great Friends of Schools Breakfast hosted by the South Bend Education Foundation will be held on Thursday, May 2, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Palais Royale in downtown South Bend.

Individual tickets are $60 each and can be purchased until April 26.

Organizers say the breakfast celebrates this year’s Teacher Grant recipients, the successes of the South Bend Community School Corporation, and serves as the signature fundraising event for the foundation.

"The Foundation awards 18 annual teacher grants through an application process, as well as up to five principal grants and two professional development grants," Operations Manager for the South Bend Education Foundation, Charlotte Walterhouse said. "The breakfast includes updates on the areas where the Foundation supports the students and teachers of SBCSC."

Author Amy Sarig King, who writes young adult fiction under the pen name A.S. King, will be the featured keynote speaker.

King has been called “one of the best young adult writers working today” by the New York Times Book Review, and she will speak on her Middle Grade fiction book, Attack of the Black Rectangles.

Walterhouse said the book follows a boy named Mac on his journey to figure out who has blacked out words in a classroom copy of a book to prevent kids from reading the full story.

Following the breakfast, King will conduct workshops with students at John Adams and Washington high schools.

“The Great Friends of Schools Breakfast provides an avenue for the South Bend Education Foundation to celebrate the successes of our students and share the great news of the impact the foundation has every day in enriching the learning experiences for our students and teachers,” said Walterhouse. “Without this funding, there is a gap. The foundation is pivotal in providing resources that directly benefit students and teachers at South Bend Schools.”

Since its inception in 1995, the South Bend Education Foundation has provided over $4.5 million in support to the teachers and students of SBCSC.