Atlanta rapper T.I. held a back-to-school event in his hometown yesterday (August 11).

According to MyFOX Atlanta, T.I. gave away free school supplies to more than 1,000 local kids who were heading back to school today (August 12).

The rapper stressed the value of education to the kids and also signed autographs.

“It's all about getting the kids ready to go back to school and motivating them to get their minds together,” T.I. told My Fox.

Over the past ten months, T.I. has spent of hundreds of hours doing community service.  The rapper agreed to do 1,500 hours of community service as part of his plea deal for the federal weapons charges he picked up in October 2007.

T.I. will be reporting to jail for a one year sentence in March 2009.

“They listen to his music, so by him speaking out to the children that helps out,” said Beewanda Gates, a parent who attended the event.  “He's standing behind where he went wrong at and he's spending time with them showing them right and wrong”.

In related news, T.I. will be releasing his fifth solo album titled Paper Trail on September 30th.  The album will feature production from DJ Toomp, Swizz Beatz Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. STRONG> and Jim Jones, among others.