AUTHOR
Liz Wright
July 24, 2023
NewsEducation
On Saturday, July 22, the HUB for Community Innovation, located at 631 Chafee Ave., hosted a back to school event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., where about 600 students collected free school supplies.
Co-lead by organizers from Augusta University’s Literacy Center and RISE Augusta, other community partners who helped sponsor and set up booths at the event included AT&T, the Richmond County School System, Harrisburg Family Health, Augusta Locally Grown, Paine College, the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Augusta.
“This year we had a generous donation from AT&T for 450 backpacks, and we were able to supplement that with some of our own as well, and so we’ve been able to seen even more kids than last year,” said Betsy VanDeusen, Director of Augusta University’s Literacy Center, located within the HUB. “The HUB has been open for just about a year, and this year really represents the synergy of all the partners. The whole building is being used and all the partners are contributing in some way, so it really is the whole mission of the HUB to have this kind of activity.”
With music, a bubble machine, facepainting and even real life Disney princesses, the HUB was humming with laughter and excitement as hundreds of children gushed over the multitude of activities, including: yoga, dancing, poetry creation, reading and more.
“When you have a special day like this, when you convey the idea that back to school is an exciting time, and we’re here to celebrate that just speaks volume to kids. It tells them that they’re about to do something important,” said VanDeusen.
After completing a list of educational activities, children were able to collect a bookbag full of age appropriate school supplies based on their age to most accommodate their learning needs.
“First and foremost this event is a chance to engage with communities and celebrate this exciting back to school time every year,” said VanDeusen. “Secondly, we know that people are in need of school supplies everywhere, so we’re able to give backpacks of school supplies for kids to start the year off right.”
Activities such as a book fair which allowed kids to take some books home, lunch, various informative and fun presentations, a storywalk and a counting game were offered to get kids excited about going back to school.
“We wanted to especially highlight literacy with the activities they’re experiencing, so there’s books everywhere all throughout the HUB … learning to read is a complex process. It doesn’t just happen when you give books to kids, but that helps a lot,” said VanDeusen. “There’s also particular activities for parents with young children, so they can take things home to do their part in helping get kids ready for school before they start attending.”
Parent Takenya Maddox said she enjoyed the event because it was addressing a need many in the community overlook unless they are directly suffering from it.
“It’s good because there are a lot of resources out there that we might not even know about. Some parents might not be able to afford some of the stuff that they are giving, and it just kind of exposes the kids to different things that are out there for them,” she said. “It’s hard on parents. There are more homeless people in the community than what people realize, because most people consider ‘homeless’ to be people you see on the streets.”
For those with kids in multiple facilities, Richmond County School System’s IT and Student Services Departments hosted a booth to educate families about the parent portal, and how they could utilize the app to track their children’s grades, bus routes and more even if they attended differing schools.
“We are asking questions around registration and also helping them get connected with the Infinite Campus portal, and we have a few resources here about transitioning to middle or high school,” said the Director of Student Services … “We’re here to just answer questions if parents need other resources, so it’s kind of a one-stop support place that parents can come to in order to start the school year.”
Comparing the event to a fun school-themed fair for families, fellow parent Precious Christian said the economy’s recession has created several financial hardships and only made things more stressful for many families, and she was thankful for the HUB’s thoughtfulness in providing materials and information.
“We all need each other, especially in today’s times. There’s a lot more people in need now. It’s not just the typical needy people anymore; it’s people you know that live down the street from you and have degrees,” she said. “It helps. I found out about it last minute and was so grateful for it. Usually, when they do school drives like this, you go for the book bags at one place and then drive to somewhere else, but this is just all in one.”
Along with materials provided, yoga and dancing were also highlighted at the event to encourage children to have a physical outlet as well as promote overall wellness to better handle the stress of school. With yoga’s basic mentality of “maximize love, manage stress,” VanDeusen said even simple breathing exercises can help children settle down and refocus.
“I’m glad a community like this is doing events like this for poor people in the community,” said father Joseph Omenden after finishing up yoga with his daughters. “And they have all these activities which are really good.”
While Omenden’s favorite activity was yoga, his six-year-old daughter, Josephine, said her favorite part was the counting game and taking a photo with princess Elsa.
With Augusta University’s Literacy Center offering tutoring services throughout the entire school year and RISE Augusta participating in some schools as well as their base in the HUB, VanDeusen said the event also allowed volunteers and workers to bring more awareness to parents about the many different resources located within the HUB community. To VanDeusen, the event’s most important aspect was to make sure families felt supported in any matter they needed.
“The whole purpose of having the HUB down here in this area is to engage with the community,” she said. “We’re here for support and even making those connections today as we meet and greet people is important. So the big takeaway is ‘let’s get excited for going back to school and the HUB is here to help.’”