RIVERSIDE, Ohio — Spinning Hills Middle School was packed on Monday, just weeks before the first day of school.
It was the District’s Annual Day of Giving Back.
News Center 7’s Ava Petrosky was at the event talking to volunteers who were helping families check some back-to-school items off their lists.
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“It’s just going to be a great opportunity for us again to come together as a community,” said Chad Wyen, Superintendent of Mad River Local Schools.
Wyen told us this is the 12th Annual Day of Giving Back for the school district.
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“It gives us an opportunity to give back, take away the barrier of having school supplies for our students and our families so they don’t have to worry about that monetary expense because everything is so expensive now,” Wyen said.
According to the Century Foundation, items like notebooks, lunch boxes and index cards have gone up 8%.
So, families picked up school supplies like backpacks, glue sticks and crayons. Students also got some new back-to-school outfits.
Plus, some students can even start the school year with a fresh cut.
937 Barbershop has been a partner in the Day of Giving for the past three years. We spoke with the shop’s manager, Austin Pendergast.
“It’s important because it kind of kicks off the school year,” Pendergast said. “Last year is probably our biggest one we’ve done yet, and hopefully this year is going to be the same. It just kind of gets everything going for the whole school year.
In addition to transforming the cafeteria into a barbershop, there was also a temporary nail salon.
The drive served about 1,000 people. Wyen told us he has seen almost three generations of families graduate and continue in the school district, so the day is very heartwarming for him.
“To see them today has just been really rewarding for me as we prepare to go back to school,” he said.
He also told us how happy he was to see how excited students are to return to school.
Mad River Schools begin on September 8.
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