Jones County Family Connection will be holding their annual Back to School Bash Thursday, July 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Gray Station Middle School to help students in Jones County get the school supplies they need to start the year off ready to learn.
Joy Carr, Jones County Family Connection coordinator, said she is excited for the event and can’t wait to see families at the event getting hold of resources and supplies they need.
“At this time we have 17 resource vendors registered to join us for the day. We’re doing something a little different this year. We will have food trucks at this year’s Back to School Bash for parents to stay and have lunch with their kids if they’d like to purchase lunch,” she said. “It’s a little bit of a longer schedule than we normally have, but I think it will be a fun time.”
She said there will be 1,000 backpacks available, and school supply packs to go along with them. She said she would like parents and guardians to mingle with the other resource vendors first before getting a backpack.
“We want to prepare our students here in Jones County by making sure they get the school supplies they need. This sets them up for success. We do this before open house to get the kids ready and get them excited for the first day of school,” Carr said.
The coordinator said the students will get notebooks, pencils, glue sticks, and other school supplies to get them started. She said it might not be everything they will need for school, but it’s a good start and they can build from what they are provided at the Back to School Bash.
Carr said the Jones County Health Department, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, Augusta University, Community Health Care Systems, River Edge, 4-H, The Jones County Public Library, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, Community Health Works, Tri-Co Go, State Farm and more will be there to provide students with resources and other school supplies.
“Those people with Jones County students should come to the Back to School Bash to get important information their student might need to know. Plus this gets them excited about school starting back,” the coordinator said. “We just want to make sure everyone knows what is available, and they might not know about new things the schools are doing.”
She said the students do not have to be at the event. She said open house for Jones County schools grades six through twelve will be July 27 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., and grades pre-k through fifth will be held on July 28 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. She said the first day of school is August 1 for the 20232024 school year. She said she looks forward to seeing everyone before those dates at the Back to School Bash.
“My favorite thing about the Back to School Bash each year is seeing all the people who are there,” she said. “There’s a lot of excitement to gear up for the new school year, and I just like seeing everyone come out to the event. We like to start the school year upbeat and positive, so it’s good to see excitement surrounding education.”
