Waukegan Community Unit School District 60’s annual School Resource Fair is a back-to-school party, with entertainment, activities for youngsters and a picnic. It is also a lot more, with services that can lead to better academic outcomes for students.
A deejay played music and organized activities like dancing for children. There were pony rides and a petting zoo. District 60 personnel grilled free hot dogs. Superintendent Theresa Plascencia handed out bottled water. A food truck offered frozen treats.
Free backpacks filled with school supplies were available to all students. Nearby were representatives of each school answering questions for families. People from dozens of community organizations were there letting people know how they can help.
“There are a lot of things going on today,” Plascencia said. “It’s a chance for families to get what they need for the school year. It has really grown since it started.”
Maykin Galeano, a Waukegan High School junior, was holding his new backpack as well as one for his sister, Allison Martinez, a sixth grader at Robert Abbott Middle School. A new experience for them both, he moves to the high School’s Washington campus and she enters middle school.
“This year, I’m going to work real hard and raise my grade-point average,” Galeano said.
Galiano and Martinez were among more than 3.600 people attending District 60’s ninth-annual Back to School Resource Fair Saturday at the high school’s Brookside campus, receiving backpacks with school supplies and other benefits like free haircuts and eyesight testing.
When Plascencia arrived from the Chicago Public Schools as superintendent in 2016, she said she was used to the festivities surrounding the annual Bud Billiken Parade setting the tone for the new school year in the city.
“I wanted to do something like that, a celebration, in Waukegan,” she said. “We wanted people to have access to community resources, to get school supplies and everything else they need for a great school year.”
At the same time, current District 60 Board of Education member Carolina Fabian and director of Community and Family Engagement (FACE) for the Illinois State Board of Education, was starting the district’s FACE Department. She already had 15 years as a teacher and administrator.
Plascencia and Fabian developed the concept for the resource fair. Fabian said getting backpacks filled with school supplies was an initial part of the idea. The party atmosphere and introduction of community resources were important ingredients.
“We wanted them to learn all about the resources available in Waukegan and Lake County,” Fabian said. “We had a great turnout the first year, and it’s just kept getting bigger. With all the other activities, parents didn’t have to wait in long lines for the backpacks.”
Activities abounded both outside the building and in many of its rooms inside. In one room, youngsters like Little Fort Elementary School fourth grader Abraham Diaz were getting back-to-school haircuts.
“I’m very excited this is happening,” Abraham said. “I’m getting ready for school.”
“This is a great thing,” added Abraham’s mother, Maria Rodriguez. “I’m excited about all the things he’s going to learn.”
A few doors away from the “barber shop,” healthcare technicians were giving free vision and hearing tests to youngsters. The testing was sponsored by the Waukegan Little Fort Lions Club. Rick Riddle, a club and Board of Education member, said not only was the testing free, but the club also pays for things like glasses or hearing aids.
Outside, near the music and picnic, were booths of dozens of resource providers like Lorena Rodriguez, a community engagement liaison for Rosalind Franklin University. She said they were letting people know their school’s care coach which travels around the county. A variety of screenings are done.
Inside the school gym where backpacks were distributed, representatives of more organizations and each school in the district were answering questions. Josie Moreno was telling individuals about the club’s after-school programs.
Staffing a table for Jack Benny Middle School was its new principal, Mike Field. Middle school is a new experience for all sixth graders going from mostly sitting in one classroom with a singular teacher for much of the day, to moving from class to class.
“Middle school is a time of transition,” Field said. “They’re learning new things, and we’re getting them ready for high school. There is a lot of social-emotional learning as well as academics.”
Backpack distribution was not exclusive to District 60 on Saturday. Representatives of the Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods handed out 1,300 backpacks with school supplies and nature tools at the Warren Newport Public Library in Gurnee.
Ashley Cullen-Williams, the senior program director for Brushwood said in an email that the event goes beyond school supplies. It is an “act of care and a statement of belief in our youth” for young people and families “facing systemic barriers in Lake County.”
“We are committed to showing up for young people not just with supplies, but with opportunities to be acknowledged, supported, and celebrated. Investing in them is how we build a future rooted in equity, healing, and hope.” Cullen-Williams said in the email.
For families still in search of backpacks loaded with school supplies for their children, the Lake County Housing Authority is holding its fourth-annual Back to School Fair on Aug. 6 in Grayslake.
Lorraine Hocker, the organization’s executive director, said in an email that there will be free haircuts, free physical medical examinations, representatives of other organizations and some entertainment for the youngsters.
“Events like these are crucial in ensuring that every child, and family, have what they need to begin the school year with confidence and stability,” Hocker said in the email. “From school supplies to health services, this fair reflects the power of community collaboration and the shared commitment to equity, access and opportunity for all students.”
