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Schools

Back-to-School Brings Tears, Fears

Students need to get supplies for their classes and activities, but it's not always easy.

Everyone knows that summer doesn’t last forever, but for kids the rudest reminders are always the gigantic red banners in the stores proudly announcing an end to their freedom.

Cool-looking new provisions, like backpacks, notebooks, writing implements and binders will impress their friends, and kids remember the excitement that comes with the first few days of school, reconnecting with friends who were out of reach over the summer and winning new ones.

Some schools are more helpful in offering guidance than others.

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Golda Och Academy in West Orange purchased supplies for students as a fundraiser this year, according to Adinah Biallik, mother of three children, ages 14, 10 and 3½.

“They made our lives a little easier this year,” Biallik said, while shopping for art projects for her youngest child at Amazing Savings in Cedar Grove.

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Kevin Curran, the father of a five-year-old, said he’s happy with the certainty that comes with shopping for a young child.

“It’s pretty simple right now,” he said. “She needs pencils and notebooks with wide-ruled paper. Most of her homework is photocopied worksheets.”

“We have a lot of new stuff – school supplies, binders, pens, pencils,” said Cedar Grove Amazing Savings Assistant Manager Martina Apariticio. “Aisle four is all new.”

A Cedar Grove Staples representative said their store started getting really busy almost two weeks ago.

Evening and weekend hours are filled by parents picking up supplies with children. College students are also looking to buy laptops, word processing programs or get set up with the latest operating system, Windows 8.

Some of the most popular items Staples has this season are their graphic binders and notebooks with candy-color, sci-fi, floral and nature themes.

And if your child is also an athlete, equipment for fall sports is also on your mind.

Ben Leuzzi, proprietor of Verona Sports Center, has been serving local athletes and their parents at his 553 Bloomfield Ave. for more than 40 years.

His back-to-school season starts in early August when local football and hockey teams being practicing; it continues through September as soccer, field hockey and fall baseball begin.

He said it’s like clockwork how his store gets busy in the evenings as kids get out of practice, realizing they forgot to get a mouth guard, leg pads, a football belt “or the cup they lost last season,” Leuzzi said. “That’s why we’re here.”

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