Supporting youth and assuring the academic success of all of our community's children has always been one of my main priorities. This is why every year my office collaborates with the Parent & Teachers Association (PTA) to distribute customized backpacks full of school supplies and goodies to kindergarten and first-graders. This year the event attracted a couple hundred attendees, many of which were new students to Rosa Parks who were elated to receive the backpacks. Parents, teachers and especially the children were extremely grateful at the welcoming the students received at the picnic. This event has become a flagship at the school that really gives all of the new Rosa Parks kids a jumpstart to the school year.
It is
always a stressful and intimidating experience for young children to come to a
new school for the first time, but with your help we were able make this a
pleasant and memorable experience for them. The first day of school is also a very difficult time for parents as
well, both financially and emotionally, so our event really made it that much
easier for them to bring their child to school on the first day.
This year I decided to give the backpacks an
environmental theme since Rosa Parks is an environmental magnet. To go along with the signature imprinted
backpack and school book-shaped erasers, I included a pencil made out of
recycled money, booklets for parents for more environmentally friendly pest
control and cleaning tips, activity books teaching children how they can help
keep our water clean (particularly important during our current drought), some
trinkets emphasizing the importance of healthy foods, a healthy Zbar from Clif
Bar, and a bunch of school supplies. We
also were able to give away some beautiful hardcover children’s books that Half
Price Books donated and some Eat 5 A Day t-shirts that were cleverly packaged
in the shape of fruits and vegetables.
To top off the event I organized an activity for the
children, again to compliment Rosa Parks’ environmental science emphasis but
also to give them a taste of the wonderful things that Rosa Parks has to offer.
During the picnic, we set up a planting station where every child got a
terracotta pot that they painted with brilliant designs. Each student got a beautiful, ever-bearing
tristar strawberry plant to put in their personalized pots that they could take
home and nurture. We also gave the
school five flats of strawberries to plant in their gardens for parents,
teachers and children alike could enjoy.
If you'd like to see more from the event, click on the picture below.
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