Page 16 - Ft. Huachuca Scout 7-24-15

1B The Scout FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Back 2 School Fair highlights community resources

Story and photos by Stephanie Caffall
Staff Writer

Fort Huachuca’s Directorate of Family Morale, Welfare and Recreation hosted a From left to right: Savannah Maggio, 8; Sgt. 1st Class Rhu Maggio; Tristin Maggio, 9; and Lacey
Back 2 School Fair at Colonel Johnston Elementary School July 16 to inform stu- Maggio sign up for the Back 2 School event raffle. The prize being raffled at the fair included three
dents and Families about the available resources and services in the Fort Huachuca backpacks filled with back to school supplies.
and Sierra Vista communities.
dents and parents with any questions they had about their schools and the upcom-
Booths with information from Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca lined the audito- ing school year.
rium of the school. Various groups participated in the event, including the Sierra
Vista Lions Club, Main Post Chapel, Boy Scouts, the Sierra Vista Public Library, “New parents that are coming in are asking questions of the schools and their
AWANA, Cochise County Health Department and Fort Huachuca Accommodation asking important questions about our schools,” said Valerie Quarto, principal, Gen-
Schools. eral Myer Elementary School.

e event included information about extracurricular activities, clubs, sports, Quarto explained that the Back 2 School Fair is a very important event because
school services, special needs services and tutoring. “people come to put a face to the name.”

e Medical Department Activity and Dental Activity provided health services She added, “It also builds up momentum for students to come back to school.”
information on health appointment scheduling and nutrition. At the event a drawing was held for back to school supplies which included three
backpacks for di erent age groups, lled to the brim with school essentials.
“It’s a very helpful event for us because we’re newcomers to Fort Huachuca and Erin Schnitger, Fort Huachuca school liaison o cer, explained the idea was to
we nd this makes things much easier,” said Nichole Brown. give away something that would bene t the students and education.
“We wanted to allow Families the opportunity to know the resources available
She further explained that she “found it most helpful that the schools informed to them and to support education—that’s what this event is about,” Schnitger said.
parents about what kind of clothes students can and cannot wear.”

e Sierra Vista Lions Club participated in the event by giving students free vi-
sion tests. ey brought a new machine which quickly and e ortlessly checked for
abnormalities in eyes.

Su Lin, a member of the Downtown Tucson Lions club explained, “ ese [ma-
chines are the] newest, latest and greatest technology, sending an infrared light from
the retina the pupil, nding out whether or not students may need glasses.

“We’re helping children with literacy by rst identifying whether or not students
need glasses in hopes to better improve their experience with school,” Lin said.

e Cochise County Health Department’s booth consisted of information and
a lung display, giving attendees the opportunity to understand what healthy lungs
look like.

“We’re promoting health in the community,” said Roza Vickers, health educa-
tor, Cochise County Health Department. “We’ve partnered with Fort Huachuca to
strengthen health in the community.”

Principals from all three Fort Huachuca schools attended the event, assisting stu-

Beth Dougherty; Tyer Dougherty, 7; Alex Dougherty, 7; Caroline Dougherty, 11 months; and How- Taylor Brown, 7, gets a vision check by Ben Smart of the Sierra Vista Lions Club at the Back 2
ard Denny check out the AWANA booth at the Back 2 School Fair July 16. AWANA is a global, School Fair July 16. The Sierra Vista Lions Club sponsored free vision checks to all students at
nonprofit religious organization dedicated to educating children. the event.