Families beating the heat with back to school shopping

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) — The start of back to school sales signals the end of summer and a fresh school year. Many parents are already beating the heat by filling their carts with school supplies.

“So far it’s been good,” said shopper, Tammi, who had to get a bigger cart for all of her supplies. “I try and get out really early.”

Many parents think of it as a yearly tradition, bringing the kids to pick out their favorite items.

Fifth grader, Jackson Sutton says he always loves getting new pencils. “Pencils. Because sometimes if I get bored, I snap them in half.”
Third grader, Priya Juman-Singh showed off half a dozen notebooks, saying, “I’ve got pink, and purple!”

Parents, like Priya’s mother, Savannah hope students will use their books and binders in the classroom instead of hanging up their backpacks and staying home.

“She really wants to be in person for school instead of online,” said Savannah Juman-Singh “So, I hope that we stay in school this year.”

Priya said she’s most excited to hang out with all of her classmates this year, something she couldn’t do last fall.

“Like we were doing something weird that was, two days online, then the third day online, and then we did two days in person,” the third grader explained.

Though how this school year will go is still a mystery, Juman-Singh hopes back to school shopping is the first step to a stable school year.

“Hoping it’s as normal as it can be. Understanding that there might be masks. She already knows,” Savannah said.
Priya excitedly interjected, “I got new ones last week!”
“We’re just hoping to have some normalcy in the year for sure,” her mother continued.

Most New Hanover County students will start school in less than three weeks in-person with masks.