Sixth grader Landon Fernandez said he might use new school supplies gifted to him to draw, study and help with his homework.
Bags of school supplies, including notebooks, colored pencils, glue and more were given to all 600 students at Roy A. Hunt Elementary School in Arnold on Friday.
It was part of The Education Partnership’s Adopt-A-School program.
“I think it’s nice they’re giving all the kids supplies for free,” Fernandez said.
The Education Partnership is a nonprofit that provides free essentials to schools across Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The elementary school has been “adopted” for the program by the Roy A. Hunt Foundation for six consecutive years, funding the purchase of the supplies.
New Kensington-Arnold School Board President Jane Graham said the program practices the spirit of community giving and education development that the school’s namesake Roy A. Hunt, former Alcoa president and local philanthropist, stood for.
“When this building was named, it wasn’t just a one-and-done,” Graham said.
Josh Whiteside, executive director of The Education Partnership, said its mission is to provide students and teachers with anything they need to succeed, and the Adopt-A-School program is a way to celebrate that with the students.
“This event just tells the kids the community needs them,” Whiteside said.
Students eagerly lined the school gymnasium Friday afternoon as they sat through the assembly.
It kicked off with a performance from the student band, followed by short speeches by Whiteside and Roy A. Hunt Foundation Executive Director Jenny Kelly.
“With every notebook and piece of paper, we believe you can do great things,” Kelly told the students. “I know that when we give you guys school supplies, you use them.”
Whiteside picked students for a game where they came up with new uses for everyday school supplies.
The game, meant to harness creativity, Whiteside said, embodies what the nonprofit stands for.
“We know that if you are going to be successful in life, you have to be creative with what you have around you,” he said. “You can take what you have here and do anything with it.”
Graham said the yearly event is a needed boost to dwindling supplies halfway through the school year.
The Education Partnership provides more than basic classroom supplies, Whiteside said. It also donates food, clothing, toiletries, furniture, crafting materials and more.
“Anything that a student or teacher is missing to get them to a place they can learn,” Whiteside said.
The bags given to Hunt students also had toothpaste, hand sanitizer and soap.
At its Crafton Heights office, the nonprofit has a stockpile that teachers across the region frequent for any needed supplies, he said.
Music teacher Joe Melnick said that’s where he gets most of his classroom materials.
Without the school’s partnership with the nonprofit and the Hunt foundation, it wouldn’t be able to do half of the programming it does, including its two yearly concerts, Melnick said.
He said the foundation helps to fund much of the school’s technology.
“It gives the kids so many opportunities,” Melnick said. “I was able to teach the kids piano.”
He said his students were excited for the day’s events.
“It breaks up the monotony for them,” Melnick said. “It gives them a chance to be kids.”
The event at Hunt was the last of this year’s Adopt-A-School programs for the nonprofit.
