NEWPORT, Ky. — A collaborative effort was made in Newport Saturday. Officers, educators, and the National Guard helped make up the team that set up outside the Newport Kroger to collect school supplies.
“Books, pens, papers, pencil boxes, rulers, erasers, any school supplies that are in that store. We will take glue sticks,” said Katie Neuspickel, Head Start health and safety coordinator.
Newport Police Department’s Captain Paul Kunkel said the idea came from watching a school teacher purchase supplies one year in a grocery store.
“There was a school teacher in front of me, filling her cart up with school supplies — notebooks, crayons,” Captain Kunkel said.
Every year now, officers join others in a yearly “Cram the Cruiser” event to collect different items for school. Educators said this helps eliminate stress on families and teachers in collecting their own supplies for the school year.
“It’s one less thing that students’ families have to worry about. We want the best for our students, like everybody does, and it’s one less thing for our parents to worry about. It’s one less thing for our teachers to worry about and they can focus on instruction and meeting our kids’ needs in the classroom,” Nichole Hayden, Newport Primary’s Assistant Principal, said.
Kunkel said more vehicles are used now to collect everything the community donates to their cause. He knows these donations go a long way.
“When you walk in the classroom and see a notebook, you know where it came from. You see them pull out a pencil and you know where it came from. When they’re coloring their little coloring pages and they’re using a colored pencil or a crayon or a marker, it kind of puts a smile on your face because you’re part of it,” he said.
Hayden said it takes a village to play a role in helping the next generation learn. They’ll take the supplies and distribute them to teachers and students heading back to Newport classrooms this fall. Officials also said the annual Newport Night Out returns August 2 to further get kids ready for school.