WS Chronicle

BY TODD LUCK 

THE CHRONICLE

The Winston-Salem Police Department and Daggett Shuler Attorneys at Law delivered backpacks filled with school supplies to local elementary schools on Thursday, Aug. 25.

This is the second year that the law firm has teamed with the WSPD to distribute backpacks. Attorneys David Daggett and Griff Shuler, along with WSPD Chief Barry Rountree and numerous officers, helped deliver more than 200 backpacks.

Daggett said the WSPD approached him about participating in a backpack giveaway.

“We were very happy to join the chief and his team and help out,” he said.

Daggett is no stranger to working with schools. He is founder of the Safe Sober Prom Night Program in which high school students sign a pledge to stay drug and alcohol free on prom night. More than 450 schools in North and South Carolina participate in the program.

WSPD is no stranger to school outreach either, having given away hundreds of backpacks filled with school supplies at an event last month.

“We want to make sure our students start the school year off in a safe environment, but also make sure they have the necessary supplies and tools so they can be successful and have a successful academic school year,” said Rountree.

The backpacks were filled with notebook paper, a notebook, a two-pocket folder, pencils, a pencil sharpener, an eraser, a bookmark, glue, scissors and crayons. The back-packs are unmarked to avoid stigmatizing students who receive them. Daggett said the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools helped to identify elementary schools with pockets of students in needs. Those schools were Whitaker, South Fork, Moore, Brunson and Bolton elementary schools.

Whitaker was the first stop as Principal Sharon Creasy greeted them. She was glad to receive the dozens of backpacks tor her students. Though not a school with a high concentration of students living in poverty, there’s still a significant number of students there who have a financial need, and some of whom have even been homeless.

“We do have a wide dichotomy of children in terms of background and economic status,” she said. “We try to serve our children at all points of need.”

The school’s PTA regularly helps those students in need through the Whitaker Alliance, which offers them a backpack full of food to take home for the weekends, school supplies and also pays their fees for school activities.