Kindergarten Students Equipped With Book Bags Chock Full of Important Materials

More than 600 Vineland children entering kindergarten in the fall will be wearing book bags packed with all the materials necessary to have a great first year, thanks to a large group effort led by Nancee Bleistine, Vineland Public Schools Supervisor of Instruction for Early Childhood Education.

Knowing the high cost of pre-packaged book bags, Bleistine discussed with colleagues the idea of buying inexpensive book bags and filling them with items most useful for kindergarteners. Late in May, more than 70 preschool and kindergarten teachers, assistants, directors, Board of Education members and family workers all came together at the IMPACT center to pack the bags chock full of important school “stuff.”

The list included scissors, glue, crayons, a literacy bilingual game, a math bilingual game, tablets of paper, a book, “Miss Bindergarten Goes to Kindergarten”, paints, a Vineland Public Library list of summer events as well as an application to sign up for a library card, “Kindergartners are #1 pencil”, printed upper and lower case alphabet and a parent’s handbook both in English and Spanish titled, “Helping Your Child Prepare for School”.

The directors began passing out the book bags this week to the approximate 635 preschoolers who will be entering kindergarten in September. These book bags were paid through the Early Childhood Program Aid budget, a totally separate preschool budget from the district’s K-12 budget.

“We hope the children will wear these book bags with pride,” said Bleistine.