By Kelsey Ainsworth
Northeast News
August 1, 2012

All Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) students will have the supplies they need to succeed this year thanks to KCPS and Heart to Heart International.

Heart to Heart, KCPS and a number of local contributors combined efforts to fill 10,000 backpacks, which will be given away on the first day of school to kindergarten through sixth grade students in the KCPS district.

Each student in grades kindergarten through sixth will receive a backpack stuffed with school supplies and a hygiene kit, so no student will feel left out because he or she did not have supplies.

“We don’t want school to be something negative,” said KCPS Superintendent Stephen Green. “No student will stand out because they are not going out of their way to get a backpack; everyone receives one.”

In addition to the backpacks, Heart to Heart will also provide health and hygiene items to the KCPS Family Store, so students can have access to these products throughout the school year.

Providing students with the correct school and hygiene supplies will remove a huge distraction from the classroom so that students can focus on learning instead of what they do or do not have, Green said.

“The reality is that some families in this area are fragile,” said Green. “A little bit goes a long way. This way, a group that is the most fragile will get what they need and come into school feeling good about themselves.”