With the first day of school less than a month away, community and city leaders, business owners and local organizations are hosting events to help parents and students prepare for the new school year. These events include school supply and backpack giveaways, free haircuts, free food and activities for kids.
One organization is hosting a hike meant to empower girls and help them prepare for school by focusing on their mental and physical wellbeing.
Here’s what some upcoming Cleveland back-to-school events have in store for families.
Back to School Carnival
This year’s Back to School Carnival in Tower City and in Public Square will be on Saturday, Aug. 2, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The event includes a backpack and school supply giveaway. Inside Tower City there will be a bookbag tag craft station and a Cleveland Public Library play area.
Kids can also participate in stage shows with games and prizes, get their face painted, run and jump through inflatables, and play jumbo games and arcade games. The event will also offer a pirate virtual reality ride and a photo booth.
Out in Public Square, there will be rides like a merry-go-round, Hurricane and jumbo slides, carnival games, a live DJ and concession stands.
While the event is free, Tower City is asking attendees to register. Tower City is located at 230 W. Huron St.
East Cleveland Public Library’s Level Up for Back to School
The East Cleveland Public Library is hosting a bookbag giveaway event on Saturday, Aug. 2, as well. From noon to 4:30 p.m. families can enjoy free food, music, games and receive a book bag and school supplies.
The East Cleveland Public Library is located at 14101 Euclid Ave.
PEARLS Back to School Hike
Positively Empowering And Restoring Ladies’ Self-Esteem (PEARLS) and Acacia Park Wellness are partnering to host a Back to School Hike for girls between 10 and 17 years old.
The hike and scavenger hunt will be on Sunday, Aug. 10, from noon to 3 p.m., at Edgewater Park. It will include activity stations and collaborative group work as well as snacks and a dedicated station to provide parents tips for how to prepare for the school year. The organizers will be giving away journals, school supplies and hygiene bags.
Brittney Smith, founder and executive director of PEARLS, said the goal is to help the girls prepare for the upcoming school year by exposing them to nature and helping them focus on their mental and physical health.
Some of the girls she works with through PEARLS have mentioned feeling nervous about going into high school because they don’t know what to expect, Smith said. The group scavenger hunt is meant to get the girls working together to help with some of that feeling, she said.
“I hope that girls walk away feeling more confident going into the school year, feeling more prepared,” Smith said. “And knowing that they have the support of the community to back them and the support of each other.”
She said she hopes the girls learn that being in nature, by the water and in the woods, can be liberating and help them relieve stress.
Parents, guardians and the girls will be asked to sign a waiver of conduct and expectations before participating. The event is free, but organizers are asking people to register and get an online ticket at this link.
Esperanza Inc. Back to School Celebration
Esperanza Inc. will hold its 10th Back to School Celebration on Saturday, Aug. 9, from 9 a.m. to noon at Max S. Hayes High School, 2211 W. 65th St.
Esperanza will help 1,500 students with backpacks and school supplies and provide resources for parents and students.
Eliza Semidei, events manager with Esperanza, said the celebration is part of the organization’s mission of helping its communities be successful in their education and provide the resources they need to be prepared for school.
At the event, someone will be making balloon animals and doing face painting. A Julia de Burgos table will offer arts and crafts and the organization’s partner radio station, Fuego Cleveland (formerly La Mega), will be playing music.
“Dancing is encouraged as a celebration,” Semidei said.
Semidei, who is an alumna of Esperanza Inc., has helped organize the event for four years. She said it’s not just important but also crucial for organizations to work together to keep helping communities, especially as local organizations face funding cuts.
“It is very, very important for us to be able to continue to serve the need and to impact the community, that we gain strength in numbers and that we come together to support these initiatives,” she said. “It’s a beautiful representation of unity to the community and those that we serve.”
Back 2 School Giveaway
Devoted Family Care Services, a home health care agency on Cleveland’s East Side, is hosting a Back 2 School Giveaway on Sunday, Aug. 10, from noon to 4 p.m., at 4127 E. 131st St.
The event will include pizza and hot dogs, school supplies and backpacks, as well as free haircuts, braids/retwist (must come washed and blow dried). Event organizers are asking people to register for haircuts or flat iron curls. To register for the event, click here.
It’s the first time James Jones, Devoted Family Care Services owner, is hosting a back-to-school event. Jones said he reached out to his connections and friends and got seven barbers that’ll be doing free haircuts, three braiders, five stylists that will be doing silk presses and two locs stylists.
The event will also have a bounce house for kids.
Jones was raised by a single mom, one of six children, and grew up in the inner city in Cleveland, he said. While his mom figured out how to make it through hardship, Jones said he understands that families like the one he grew up in can experience hardship and might need to lean on others for help sometimes. Now that he’s able, he wants to help his community, he said.
“My goal is to bring the community together for a day and make some connections with people,” Jones said. “And help the kids out, because it’s all for the kids at the end of the day.”
