NMS Student’s ‘Summer Homework’

Provides Social Services With Backpacks

By Eliza Hallabeck

As the last days of summer tick by, some of the 24 backpacks purchased and filled with school supplies by rising Newtown Middle School eighth grade student Alexandra Lotko are stored at Social Services, located at Town Hall South, before being delivered to students whose families cannot purchase backpacks on their own.

Throughout last school year Alexandra said she worked hard to collect water bottles from her family and neighbors to recycle. By June she had saved $285.27.

That month she was shopping at Target with her mother, “and I saw a little girl crying because her mom told her she couldn’t afford the backpack she wanted and she would have to use her old backpack.”

During the car ride home from the shopping trip, Alexandra told her mother she knew what she wanted to do with her savings: she wanted to purchase backpacks and supplies for students who could not afford them. Alexandra’s “Backpack Project” soon began.

Alexandra spent her free time in July and the first week in August searching for savings on school supplies and bags. She used the school supplies list posted on Hawley Elementary School’s website as a guide for which supplies to purchase for Newtown students.

Alexandra’s mother, Tiffany, drove her back and forth to scope out the best sales. For backpacks, Alexandra said, Christmas Tree Shops sells bags for $5.31.

“They are actually really nice quality backpacks,” said the eighth grader.

Alexandra used her family’s living room floor to sort the pencils, pens, erasers, spiral-bound notebooks, paper, pencil sharpeners, note pads, lunch boxes and more into the 24 purchased backpacks.

On August 11, Alexandra dropped off her summer’s worth of work to Director of Social Service Ann Piccini and case manager/administrative assistant Ann Benore.

“I’m just amazed at the young women’s thoughtfulness on the part of other kids she doesn’t know,” said Ms Piccini. “It is really nice.”

The Newtown Junior Women’s Club also donates backpacks with supplies each year through its Back-to-School Backpack Program, and Ms Piccini said Social Services needs roughly 100 backpacks a year to help support Newtown’s more needy residents with academic supplies.

Ms Benore said Social Services had a bigger need for backpacks this year than in previous years.

“[Alexandra] had a nice variety. It was definitely helpful,” said Ms Benore.

Since August 11, Alexandra has also stocked four more backpacks that she will give directly to both Newtown Middle School and Reed Intermediate School to keep in stock for students who may need them during the school year.

Ms Piccini said Social Services also keeps backpacks stored at the Town Hall South location throughout the school year to help when the need arises.

“We do have a lot of kids that have zippers go on them or the straps break,” said Ms Piccini.

Alexandra said she wants to encourage other students to “think beyond their own backpacks and get involved,” and hopes to create a website during the next school year to help other students raise money to support their fellow students.

She has asked her father, Greg Lotko, who works for IBM, for advice on how to create a website, and has began thinking about what information she would like to add to the eventual website.

“If I could manage to fill 24 backpacks,” said Alexandra, “imagine what a group of kids working together could do?”

Ms Piccini said the families who receive the backpacks are kept confidential. She also said if other students wanted to help Alexandra or start their own initiative to supply Social Services with backpacks, it would be a big help.