Backpacks for Kids
The Almaden Super Lions Club spearhead a project they call “Backpacks for Kids,” in which they stuff backpacks with school supplies and then donate them to the local school systems, who in turn distribute them to students whose families can’t afford to outfit them with these basic needs.
Backpacks for Kids
In 2009, the Almaden Super Lions, in conjunction with clubs throughout our District, stuffed over 1,300 backpacks for distribution to schools throughout our service area.
Stuffing Backpacks with Supplies
This project is about much more than simply giving these kids paper and pencils. Classroom management and current teaching methodologies really depend on the notion that each student will have his or her own backpack, in which the teacher will place correspondence to the parents, students are taught to store their newly collected homework assignments in their backpacks to assure their safe arrival at home for an evening of homework. Likewise, parents use the packs to return correspondence and forms, and they sometimes help maintain reading logs and other records of schoolwork completed at home. They can also be used to carry lunch to school!
Studies are showing that kids who don’t have a backpack to play these roles in their academic success are not as successful as their backpacked peers. This may be beause homework and teacher’s notes stuffed into jeans pocket may arrive home that afternoon in illegible condition, if at all. Similarly, a student might actually complete some homework one evening, but truly lose it on the way to school the next morning, finding himself in hot water for failing to turn in the assignment.
