photo by: Emma Delk (file)

Marshall County Schools staff help set up for the Back 2 School Fun Fair last year.

MOUNDSVILLE — The Marshall County ‘Back 2 School Fun Fair’ will celebrate its 25th anniversary on Wednesday as it helps parents and students prepare for the upcoming school year.

The event will take place at the former West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville from 9 a.m. to noon. The fair is open to any Marshall County student, Pre-K through 12th grade, accompanied by an adult.

Students who have not yet registered for school can still attend the fair and will have their information taken at check-in to register for the school year.

Students will receive a variety of free school supplies at the fair, including backpacks, notebooks, pencils, scissors and loose-leaf paper. Toiletries, toilet paper and nonperishable food items will also be available.

Parent Educator Susie Baker, who organizes the fair, said students will be able to take whatever they need from a variety of supplies.

“I’ve been asked many, many times, ‘Why don’t you just pack all that stuff up? It’d be a lot easier,'” Baker said. “We don’t do that because I want the students to be able to decide if they want a red or blue backpack. I want to give them ownership over what they’re choosing, so even if it takes three hours for everyone to get through, we don’t want students to come in and just get handed a backpack filled with stuff.”

Marshall County teachers, service personnel, administrators, Board of Education members and retired staff will help pass out the supplies. Baker said this will allow students to meet new instructors and say “Hi” to past teachers.

“We usually have working or retired teachers checking students in, and the kids love seeing them,” Baker said. “This year we’ve had so many volunteers wanting to help, I’ll be tripping over them on Wednesday.”

Students can also put a name to a face for their bus driver at the fair, since they will be there for students to meet and receive their bus numbers.

In addition to resources from MCS, more than 50 local agencies will be present at the fair for parents and students to learn about their services. In collaboration with the Marshall County Health Department, the FRN & Family Support Center will be performing dental checks and handing out toothbrushes, toothpaste and community resources.

“The free backpack is how we get students and parents in the door, but the inner circle of resource tables is why we want them there,” Baker said. “Those are the agencies some families need to get hooked up with for support.”

Free coupons for haircuts will be available to students. Giveaways for two bikes, Kennywood tickets and a variety of gift baskets will be held at the fair.

A complimentary breakfast of milk and coffee will also be served at the event.

Baker thanked major sponsors of the fair for keeping the event going. Sponsors for this year include MCS, A&B Kia, Bayer Heritage Federal Credit Union and WesBanco.

With more than 1,200 students in attendance at last year’s fair, Baker admitted she did not anticipate the event she began 25 years ago would grow so large. Baker was inspired to start the event to prevent students from feeling like a “disappointment” when they were not prepared for the first day of school.

“I grew up very poor, and I always felt like I was a disappointment because I was not prepared on that first day,” Baker said. “It’s few and far between to find a teacher today that won’t have those resources in their classroom for children, and I’m glad we can prepare them even more in advance during the fair.”

Baker said that the year’s worth of planning that goes into the fair was worth it for the student success stories the event produces.

“There was a little girl who went to Sanford Elementary who missed so much school because of stomach issues,” Baker said. “At the Fun Fair, the dental hygienist checked her teeth and found the issue. That next year, I think she missed two days of school, so good things come from the fair.”

Baker added that the Fun Fair story that made her feel the most “warm and fuzzy” was from a West Virginia Department of Corrections inmate who helped set up at the fair one year.

“There was a young prisoner, he was probably not even 30, that came up to me and said, ‘I was one of 10 kids, and if I had something like this growing up and been prepared for school, I probably would not be wearing this uniform,'” Baker said. “Stories like that keep me doing this, especially the day after the fair when I’m tired and not feeling very warm or fuzzy.”