Weekly Roundup 32: B2S Time

That's right, it's Back 2 School time, and even though this is the first year I haven't had a student since my older son started kindergarten, it's a hard mindset to break. My mom was a teacher, and I remember going to her elementary classroom late in the summer to help put up bulletin boards. Being in a school without students almost felt like trespassing. I can still picture the dim quiet hallways and hear the sound of the stapler we used to affix construction paper to the corkboards. 

Years later came the annual purchase of backpacks and crayons and tennis shoes for my two boys, all of it seeming so important because it heralded the return to school. We would show up at Target, find the supply list for the correct school, and and start checking things off as we dropped them in the cart. This year, 57% of families will forego the shopping trip and buy their supplies online.

If you like to get a little wonky with the numbers, the National Center for Education Statistics is the website for you! That is where I learned that in Fall 2021, 49.4 million children were enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools and 5.5 million children were enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools. 

That adds up to a lot of school supplies. In fact, total back to school spending--including everything from erasers to MacBooks--is estimated to hit $81.16 billion dollars this year. To help defray some of this cost, sixteen states are participating in "sales tax holidays" for certain eligible items. Hey, every little bit helps.

(All this talk about back to school is making me nostalgic. I might have to go buy myself a new pen and spiral notebook.)

To all the teachers everywhere, thank you! You make a hard job look easy and do it with love.