Author: Leslea Barnes
Planning Unit: Crittenden County CES
Major Program: Disaster Preparedness
Plan of Work: Unrelated to a specified County Plan of Work
Outcome: Long-Term Outcome
Back to School night is a yearly function to help school aged children get back into the swing of the school year. Each year, the week before school starts, each school in our community host and evening for school children to bring in the school supplies, find their classrooms and gain information about opportunities for the upcoming school year. We, the Cooperative Extension Service, have been asked to be a part of this each year. We provide information about opportunities not only for our youth, but other opportunities provided by our extension office. Along with providing community opportunities, we provide information about healthy food tips for the school year as well as handing out SNAP Ed items. We live in a community with a high poverty rate, so, some youth struggle even to have backpacks, water bottles and lunch boxes. A couple of years ago, we were given draw string back packs that we handed out to youth. We never dreamed the teachers would be interested in them as well. As the night went on, teachers found out we had them and told us that they had nothing to keep all of their emergency plans, class rosters, first aid kits and other items that they needed to keep handy and all in one place in case of an emergency. Although we knew that this was a great use of the backpacks for them, we never dreamed that 3 years later we would still see their backpacks hanging on a hook by the door ready and any teacher coming or going from the playground, you will see them carrying a SNAP Ed backpack with everything they need for the playground or emergency. Not only are the SNAP Ed back packs providing a reminder of good nutrition, but they are serving as an important tool to help teachers be organized and have everything they need in one place in the case of emergency and having to leave their classroom quickly.
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