MCPS Back To School Fair Draws The Largest Crowd Yet, Weast Thanks ABC7/TBD

Families started to line up for free backpacks of school supplies at the Carver Educational Services Center at 8 AM on Saturday. The Third Annual Back-to-School Fair wasn’t scheduled to open until 11 AM. By 2PM all 5,000 backpacks had been distributed to kids who needed them to get their school year off to the right start.

The City of Rockville booth

The white tents spread across the entire parking lot to accommodate over 10,000 visitors to the Fair, up from 8,000 last year. Booths had information on recreation programs and resources available in the County. Kaiser Permanente provided health information. Nutrition was an important theme. A human-sized bunch of grapes and a banana traversed around the crowd. Kids jumped in the moonbounce, ate Carmen’s Italian Ice, and talked to a robot. Throughout the day, the main stage was jumping. The organizers understood that kids like to move. The Washington Talent Agency kept the crowd upbeat and dancing.

Dancing to the beat

During the Corporate Sponsor Recognition, School Superintendant Jerry Weast emphasized the importance of the sponsors and volunteers who make the event possible. The total sponsor amount has grown from $80,000 to $200,000 in three years. Representatives from all the corporations, organizations, and schools received awards of appreciation from Dr. Weast and Eric Davis, the director of Family-Community Partnerships which organized the event.

Jerry Weast, Eric Davis and Leon Harris

From the beginning, ABC7/TBD have been the main sponsor of the Back to School Fair. ABC7 Nightly News anchorman, Leon Harris, accepted the award then stayed to talk with his fans and sign autographs. As a MCPS parent, he’s always willing to help out.

In case you missed it, News Channel 8 is now TBDTV. TBD.com is the place for all local news in the DC region. In addition to producing their own stories and linking to other news outlets, the site networked 130 blogs together including Rockville Central. Therefore I was on hand to help distribute t-shirts and answer questions. If you haven’t yet, visit TBD.com and put in your zip code for your local community news. Try it on your phone too. The apps are a terrific way to stay connected when you’re on the go.

Leon Harris and Cindy Cotte Griffiths

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