District to provide free ‘one-stop shop’ for student needs

NEDERLAND — With the first day of school less than a month away, parents are brushing up on uniforms and school supplies lists to ensure their students get the best start to the 2015-16 academic year.

The Nederland Independent School District wants to cut down the hassle of the summer break wrap up, and it’s bringing in a team of service providers to provide students with a healthy back-to-school opportunity. The district will host its 10th annual student health fair Monday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the C.O. Wilson Middle School cafeteria.

Stuart Kieschnick, NISD assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said the fair will provide parents with a “one-stop shop” for haircuts, dental, bus routes, free lunch forms, school supplies and new or gently used school clothes — all free of charge.

“Our most popular booths every year are the haircuts by Lamar State College-Port Arthur cosmetology students, our bags of school supplies and the clothes give-a-way,” Tonya Mitchell, secretary to Kieschnick, said Friday.

Mitchell said booths this year will include athletic physicals, face painting, school nurses, Borden’s Milk, the Dental Dock, free lunch forms and district transportation information.

“We usually have about 200 people every year, and they’ll be lined up outside our door before we even open,” Mitchell said, laughing. “There’s a huge rush in the morning, but we’ll be there the full two hours. We’ve got plenty of supplies to hand out.”

Mitchell said parents should make sure they drive to C.O. Wilson — not Nederland High School, where the health fair usually sets up, out of habit. Because of construction at the high school this summer, Mitchell said, the district decided to move the event.

C.O. Wilson Middle School is located at 2620 Helena Ave. in Nederland.

For more information, call Mitchell at (409) 724-2391 ext. 1235.

Twitter: @crhenderson90