Campbell ushers in new school year with supplies giveaway

Staff report

CAMPBELL

A new school year brings the excitement of freshly sharpened pencils and colorful backpacks. But for parents, the cost of going back to school can be a source of stress.

Campbell City Schools sought to alleviate some of that cost by offering free school supplies to students enrolled in the district. Donations from sources including families in the district and St. John’s Orthodox Church provided the supplies.

Karen Paradise, a social worker with the school system, helped organize the donation program.

“Our district has a number of families in need,” she need. “As parents know, the cost of sending a child back to school can be pretty exorbitant. Hopefully, this can help parents get a jump start on their back-to-school preparations.”

In the U.S., the average cost of back-to-school supplies is $70.93 for an elementary school student, $91.14 for a middle school student and $157.58 for a high school student, according to 2015 data from TeacherLists. TeacherLists is a website that aggregates school supply lists. According to its site, TeacherLists arrived at the average costs by analyzing more than 300,000 lists.

School supplies were available Monday at Tuesday at the Campbell K-7 building on Community Circle from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The supplies included backpacks and uniforms.

More than 120 students received supplies, Paradise said.

The first day of classes for Campbell City Schools is Wednesday.