UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Grinning parents with excited kids in tow swarmed the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro on Saturday, picking up everything they needed to get their students in classrooms when school starts on Aug. 23.
At the sixth annual Prince George’s County Back to School Fair, families could do everything from getting immunizations, to picking up free backpacks.
Anjeanette Randolph brought her daughters, Anjee, 18 and Anaya, 5.
“It’s a whole lot of help to us,” she said. “We need it.”
Anjee Randolph is graduating next year, and she’s excited for school to begin. “Because I’m going to see my teacher and my friends,” she said.
But her little sister, Anaya, is the opposite of that. She’s starting kindergarten. “I like the playground, but not the classroom,” Anaya said.
Outside of the crowded tables spread across the floor of the arena, Geraldine Alot was carrying boxes on her head, and her three kids were loaded down, as well.
“Back home in my country we always carry stuff on our heads,” Alot said. The Cameroon native said the family was expecting good things this year, and they got everything from markers and books to ponchos.
“We are looking forward to performing well because we’ve already got all of this stuff for school so we are ready to go back,” Alot said.
Parents were able to get information on different schools, and learn about everything from registration requirements to how to get into a lottery for specialty program schools including French immersion and Talented and Gifted Center programs.
