The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
SPARKING A JUMPSTART
District, police stage party with free hair cuts and school supplies
Lorain City Schools made sure August 11 their students got off to a good start to the school year as they hosted a back-toschool extravaganza.
Parents and children were abuzz around the premises of Lorain High School, 2600 Ashland Ave., as they sought to get faces painted, hair cuts, free school supplies from the Lorain Police Department and a cornucopia of information to prepare for their upcoming year of learning.
Arliss Prass, the district’s new chief family officer, said there had been about 750 people through the line for hotdogs, chips and pop in the first hour of the four-hour event.
“We’re just really pleased, excited and humbled by the people.”
— Arliss Prass, the district’s new chief family officer
“We’re just really pleased, excited and humbled by the people,” she said. “This has been a tremendous opportunity to connect with families.”
Eric Bonzar, marketing and communications coordinator for the district, added that the people who attended to that point were enjoying it.
“Everybody’s joyous, happy with smiles on their faces,” he said.
Representatives from every school in the district were available at the extravaganza to help students and parents prepare to recommence on Aug. 22 their educational journey.
Prass was especially touched by the male students receiving free haircuts.
“It makes my heart warm to know that we are here serving our families,” she said.
According to Bonzar, this was the district’s first backto-school extravaganza and the response from the community was overwhelming.
In addition to all the swag the district had to offer, they also provided a chance for families to tell them what they need in regard to access to technology and the internet.
Lorain police Officer Jake Morris and other offduty representatives of the department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol gathered a sizeable line at their table where they were giving away free school supplies.
“We’re here to support the event,” Morris said. “It’s really a community event. We’re trying to come out
and show our support for the schools for what they do, and also be accessible to the kids, speak to the kids, speak with the family and be approachable.”
To the officers’ surprise, they ran out of school supplies within the first hour of the event.
“We wish we would have had more,” Morris said. “We originally looked at the school supplies that we had and thought, ‘Oh boy, we’re going to have to take so much of this back.’ The truth of it is, they probably lasted about half an hour.”