--- title: First Grader Shares Blake Shelton's 36-year-old Textbook description: Seven-year-old Marley Parker was in for a treat when she opened her class textbook to find the name of a former student that rang a bell canonical: https://time.com/5232242/first-grader-blake-shelton-1982/ author: Talia Avakian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-07T21:16:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T20:42:13.000Z og:title: First Grader Shares 1982 Textbook With Blake Shelton og:description: The seven-year-old saw Shelton's name printed in the book in 1982. og:url: https://time.com/5232242/first-grader-blake-shelton-1982/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea0118ba50943dd1/69892d144ee26239723116da/blake-sheldon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Late Night with Seth Meyers - Season 5 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: First Grader Shares 1982 Textbook With Blake Shelton twitter:description: The seven-year-old saw Shelton's name printed in the book in 1982. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea0118ba50943dd1/69892d144ee26239723116da/blake-sheldon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # First Grader Finds Out She Has the Same Textbook Blake Shelton Used in 1982 > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=42dfd07d-22df-4a32-95bf-b4824183e9ac&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) by [Talia Avakian](https://time.com/author/talia-avakian/) ## Talia Avakian Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:42 PM UTCPublished: Apr 7, 2018 9:16 PM UTC  LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS -- Episode 663 -- Pictured: Musical guest Blake Shelton performs on March 20, 2018 -- (Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS -- Episode 663 -- Pictured: Musical guest Blake Shelton performs on March 20, 2018 -- (Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images by [Talia Avakian](https://time.com/author/talia-avakian/) ## Talia Avakian Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:42 PM UTCPublished: Apr 7, 2018 9:16 PM UTC Seven-year-old Marley Parker was in for a treat when she opened her class [textbook](http://time.com/longform/never-again-movement/) to find the name of a former student that rang a bell. The first grader at Latta Elementary School in [Oklahoma](http://time.com/5232050/tornado-alley-oklahoma-texas-kansas/) was thrilled when she found out her book used to belong to country music star “Blake Shelton,” but her mother, Shelly Bryan Parker, was not. “Marley is Excited that her ‘new’ reader belonged to [Blake Shelton](http://time.com/4654908/miranda-lambert-divorce-drinking/), but I am embarrassed! I’m 40 and these people are my age!” Parker posted [along with a photo of the textbook](https://www.facebook.com/shellybryanparker/posts/10157415737604552) on Facebook. “Thank you to every teacher/parent/staffer/etc. for fighting for my kids education! Don’t give up until education is fully funded!” The image reveals Shelton’s name printed onto the front of the book, alongside the date 1982 for the year the book was used, which is why Parker saw the connection as a signal of funding issues at schools. The message comes in the midst of protests that include hundreds of teachers in Oklahoma who are calling for increased funds to alleviate the both short and outdated supply of educational materials they currently have for their students. While the mother told [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/06/us/student-gets-book-used-by-blake-shelton-trnd/index.html) she didn’t think the message would get as much traction as it did, amassing thousands of likes and shares, she said the book was still in top shape and that she simply hopes her message can raise awareness on the issue. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5232242/first-grader-blake-shelton-1982/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5232242/first-grader-blake-shelton-1982/"},"headline":"First Grader Finds Out She Has the Same Textbook Blake Shelton Used in 1982","datePublished":"2018-04-07T21:16:23.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T20:42:13.000Z","description":"Seven-year-old Marley Parker was in for a treat when she opened her class textbook to find the name of a former student that rang a bell","url":"https://time.com/5232242/first-grader-blake-shelton-1982/","keywords":["Living","celebrity","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea0118ba50943dd1/69892d144ee26239723116da/blake-sheldon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Talia Avakian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/talia-avakian/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea0118ba50943dd1/69892d144ee26239723116da/blake-sheldon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Late Night with Seth Meyers - Season 5","caption":"Late Night with Seth Meyers - Season 5","creditText":"NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5232242/first-grader-blake-shelton-1982/","name":"First Grader Finds Out She Has the Same Textbook Blake Shelton Used in 1982"}}]}] ```