News Item
New School Supply Program Designed to Save Parents Time and Money
August 2009
When Robert J. Kaiser Middle
School parent Paula Drapkin approached Monticello Schools
Superintendent Dr. Patrick Michel with an idea to make
purchasing school supplies easier, he was all ears.
While Drapkin was vacationing last summer, she read an article
about how a district in Westchester County had bought school
supplies in bulk so it could offer them at a discounted price to
its students. With this year’s budgetary constraints, it wasn’t
a likelihood that Monticello Schools would be able to do the
same thing, but it was the idea that sparked the new school
supply discount program with Kristt Company of Monticello.
Working together, Ms. Drapkin and Dr. Michel arranged a new
program with store owner Les Kristt that would supply families
with pre-packaged backpacks filled with all the required
supplies for the 2009-2010 school year. The idea would be tested
with the middle school first to see if parents were interested.
If so, a plan to expand it to all the district schools would be
implemented next year.
The new program is designed to benefit students and their
families on multiple levels. First, parents can save time
shopping and searching for each individual supply their sixth,
seventh
or eigth grader needs by just ordering one of the pre-packaged
backpacks. Second, they save money – since Kristt ordered the
supplies in such large quantities, he is able to offer them at
deeply discounted prices. Third, buying the pre-packaged
supplies ensures that students will have all the proper items
required for their classes. As a free added bonus, each backpack
is imprinted with the Monticello Schools panther logo.
“In these tough economic times, anything we can do to make the
lives of our students and their families a little easier is
worth a try,” said Dr. Michel. “Also, partnering with a locally
owned business helps us stimulate the local economy.”
Thanks to an anonymous donation,
financial assistance is available to cover the complete cost of
the backpacks for families who qualify. For more information,
please contact Christine Simon in the middle school's main
office at 796-3058, ext. 20901. To order a backpack, contact
Kristt Company at 794-6639.
CLICK HERE for the school supply lists for Grades 6, 7 and 8.
CLICK HERE to read this story printed by the Times Herald-Record.
Photo: RJK Middle School students Jordan Drapkin and Haley Ripa with their new pre-packaged backpacks. The girls said they like the concept behind the new backpack program because it makes getting their school supplies easier and gives them more time to spend shopping for clothes!