Although temperatures are staying high and the beach and the pool are staying busy, back to school season is just around the corner. Although some students are dreading the start of a new school year because that means less free time and more work, some students dread it for an entirely different reason.
Each fall, many students are sent back to school without any of the items they need to be successful. Parents and caregivers are unable to provide them with school supplies, putting them at an immediate disadvantage in the classroom as their peers sharpen new pencils and write in their pristine notebooks.
The staff, faculty, and students at Ross Medical Education Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky, know that not being prepared for the school year can be stressful on students and families as well as the schools that have to support them. That’s why, for the fourth consecutive year, the Bowling Green campus has teamed up with Stuff the Bus.
Throughout the summer, students collected school supplies for local students in need. Recently, they were able to pack up all of their donations and take them personally to the collection location. There Tony Rose, a morning show host for area WDNS-FM D93 spends a week on the bus, collecting donations and spreading the word. The Stuff the Bus drive has been collecting and distributing school supplies to local students each year for the past 11 years.
During the first year of the event, 2,400 pounds of school supplies were collected. Since then, the totals have grown. Last year, 15 tons of school supplies were donated to support local students, families, and classrooms. Those supplies were able to be donated to schools in 10 counties in the area as well as 20 after school programs.
The staff and students at Ross were once again very excited and humbled to be a part of such an incredible event in their community. Sabrina Golic, a current student in the Bowling Green Medical Assistant program at Ross shared about her experience, “It was very rewarding to get to be a part of such a worthy cause.” Many others echoed that sentiment, already looking forward to participating for years to come.