{"id":14197,"date":"2025-08-22T16:49:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T20:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=14197"},"modified":"2025-08-25T11:34:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T15:34:41","slug":"back-to-school-care-fair-prepares-students-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/back-to-school-care-fair-prepares-students-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Back-To-School Care Fair prepares students for success"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Franjanay Brown and her children attended the Back-to-School Care Fair. They got new backpacks, lots of school supplies and free haircuts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Kendra Grissette, her children and several of their cousins, attended the Care Fair. The mom of four said she appreciated the help with school supplies and the opportunity to check out a variety of school and community resources.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More than 7,000 attended the free Back-to-School Care Fair Aug.16 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.<\/p>\n

The event was organized by Virginia Beach City Public Schools and the Virginia Beach Education Foundation to help prepare students and their families for the 2025-26 school year.<\/p>\n

Kendra Grissette attended with her four children, ranging in age from 3 years old to a First Colonial High School sophomore.<\/p>\n

They were all smiles after selecting backpacks. Volunteers helped hand out more than 3,000 in a variety of styles and colors, plus pairs of headphones and earbuds.<\/p>\n

The expense of getting four kids ready for the school year adds up, Grissette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was such a great opportunity for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grissette said she also appreciated learning about resources, such as healthcare and after school programs.<\/p>\n

More than 80 community members and students volunteered and more than 200 representatives from about 100 partner organizations were on hand to offer information and answer questions. Eight school buses were available for transportation to and from the fair.<\/p>\n

VBCPS staff members and school division representatives shared their time and expertise.<\/p>\n

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Title 1 and pre-kindergarten director Laura Silverman shared information with parents, answered questions, and helped children pick out a free book.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Title I and Pre-kindergarten Director Laura Silverman was one of many people handing out free children\u2019s books, while the Virginia Beach Police Department\u2019s Youth Services promoted their volunteer programs for ages 14 to 21 and hosted a game to win prizes.<\/p>\n

Approximately 350 vaccines were provided and 60 physicals completed. Volunteer hair stylists gave free haircuts to more than 100 students.\u00a0 Many took advantage of free vision screenings.<\/p>\n

Middle school sisters Elise and Claudia Taylor said they were ready for school. They not only received some new supplies, but information about school activities and other programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned about different sports, like soccer and lacrosse,\u201d said Elise, a Plaza Middle School sixth grader.<\/p>\n

VBCPS School and Community Partnerships Coordinator Jennifer McGowan thanked those who donated supplies, time, services and financial support for their efforts and kindness.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether we are showing what it means to be a community that cares for every child, every day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Related content:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Video: Back-to-School Care Fair<\/a><\/p>\n

Story: BayPort Credit Union, platinum sponsor of the Back-to-School Care Fair<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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Virginia Beach Police Department\u2019s Youth Services Unit shared information about their programs designed to foster positive relationships between law enforcement and youth in the community. They also offered students the chance to play a game and win prizes. From left, patrol aides Isaac Parra and Sara Soboski.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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More than 100 students received free haircuts at the Care Fair thanks to the generosity of volunteer hair stylists, including Made Men Barbershop and Legacy Barbershop Academy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Robin Bryant and her son Jaxson \u2013 a Plaza Middle School sixth grader \u2013 attended the VBCPS Care Fair. Their first stop: a free haircut.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tallwood Global Studies & World Languages Academy junior Janai Jacobs,left, and First Colonial High freshman Helen Fertitta, read the book \u201cDragons Love Tacos\u201d by Adam Rubin during one of the story times at the Back-to-School Care Fair.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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2. Volunteers, including Penney Jones, left, with Sentara Employee Resource Group and Twanna Whitehurst from Elevance Health, helped students choose a free backpack during the Back-to-School Care Fair.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Students who got their Passports stamped by participants throughout the Care Fair were eligible to win prizes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Thousands of free spiral notebooks were given away by Anthem Healthkeepers Plus at the Back-to-School Care Fair.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Back-to-School Care Fair took place Aug. 16 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 7,000 attended the free Back-to-School Care Fair Aug.16 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. The event was organized by Virginia Beach City Public Schools and the Virginia Beach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":14201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-connections","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14197"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14217,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14197\/revisions\/14217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}