By Noelle Kronberg Eagle Times Correspondent
CLAREMONT, N.H. — The start of the 2023-2024 school year is days away for Claremont schools. On Saturday, the district welcomed families back with their annual Back to School Festival. The festival, organized by SAU 6 school social worker Courtney Porter, has become a long standing tradition. It was moved to Barnes Park, beginning in 2017, due to its attendance.
The SAU office and each school had tents set up where administration, teachers and staff welcomed eager students with books, supplies, smiles and excitement. Along with the district tents, there was a strong showing of resource centers, nonprofits, churches and other businesses/organizations from the community.
National Field Representatives, a Claremont business and one of the main sponsors of the event, had tables lined with backpacks for every student to select from. The backpacks are purchased and donated by the company every year. It has a Backpack Committee, chaired by Emily Webster, that gathers donations from employees to fill the backpacks with notebooks, folders, colored pencils or crayons and full pencil boxes. According to Webster, NFR has provided these backpacks since the first festival.
By 11:30 a.m., some organizations ran out of giveaway. The Claremont Elk’s Lodge passed out 250 bags of supplies and the Claremont Kiwanis Club passed out all of the popsicles they brought, which were a welcome relief on a surprisingly sunny day.
Kiwanis member and parent of Claremont graduates Jenny Thurber said, “what makes this event really special is how many non-profits are here and the community coming together,” pointing out Sleep in Heavenly Peace, an organization that provides beds to families in need.
While many organizations and businesses provided school supplies, others offered resources that families might need throughout the school year, such as the TLC Family Resource Center and Southwest Community Services.
One of the most popular stops at the festival was set up by the Claremont Bus Garage. In addition to an “ofishally back to school” underwater themed tent, the bus garage had a new bus decorated and set up that children (and families) could explore. They could even sit in the driver’s seat.
Grayson Travis, an incoming kindergartener at Maple Avenue School, and his sister Olivia Travis, an incoming 5th grader at Bluff School, took their turns checking out the bus, including opening and closing the doors, while sporting their new backpacks. Olivia is eager to get back to school and see her old friends, while Grayson loved the bus so much, he said that’s what he is most excited about when going to school. His dad, Ethan Travis, laughed and said, “he’ll be disappointed when he learns he lives too close to school to take the bus.”
While schools across the country are facing driver shortages, Claremont is in the process of onboarding three new drivers. Superintendent Michael Tempesta has expressed relief at school board meetings, saying that Claremonth had the drivers they need to reliably get students to school. The district pays for and provides its own licensing training for bus driver candidates, something Tempesta and board members believe has contributed to successful recruitment.
Students in grades 1 through 12 return to school with a half day on August 30th. Kindergarteners begin the next day on Aug. 31.
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