Are you ready for school to start? These Fort Worth kids are.
Most Tarrant County schools don’t start for at least a few days, but that didn’t keep hundreds of people from getting up at early Thursday to get school supplies.
Hundreds of families were able to get ready for school thanks to the 14th Annual Tarrant County Back To School Roundup held Thursday at the Will Rogers Memorial Center from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Some 7,200 school supply packets out of about 10,000 were given out Thursday.
The county is arranging for the remaining packets to be given to designated nonprofits and school districts with the greatest need.
Eligible families participated in the free one-stop array of services organized to help families get ready for a new school year. About 10,000 qualifying Tarrant County children received free supplies and dental, health and vision screenings at the event.
The event is a collaboration between Tarrant County, school districts, cities, state agencies, nonprofits, corporate sponsors, volunteers and the public health department. Speakers at the roundup included Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, Tarrant County Commissioners Roy Brooks and Gary Fickes, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and Superintendent Kent Scribner.
Here is a snapshot of the event by the numbers:
▪ 6,000 books were given away by Half Price Books
▪ 243 haircuts were given to children
▪ 1,600 health screenings and 850 vision screenings were conducted by Wal-Mart
▪ 123 children were fitted with free eyeglasses from the Essilor Vision Foundation
▪ 285 dental screenings and fluoride treatments conducted by Texas A&M University College of Dentistry
▪ 206 doses of immunizations administered by Tarrant County Health Department
▪ 88 sports physicals conducted by UNT Health Science Center