With a new school year on the horizon, hundreds of students and families gathered at the campus of Yolo Middle School for Newman-Crows Landing Unified School’s annual back-to-school festival last Saturday.
The event gave attendees a glimpse of what to expect next school year, meet staff members from various district sites and a chance to re-register at the school’s library. Inside the Yolo Middle’s gymnasium, multiple booths by organizations were formed for visitors to interact with. Some of them included the City of Newman, the Newman Fire Department and the Newman Library.
Additionally, visitors were able to leave the event with prizes such as school supplies, water bottles and books through activities like spin the wheel or raffles.
As multiple district families create new memories at the event every year, District Superintendent Justin Pruett said it is a “special event” because he gets to meet people who recognize and grew up with.
“There’s people that recognize that I was their principal,” Pruett said. “It’s just good to connect with them in another way, but then what I like is when we can answer a question that a parent might have before that first day of school.”
With the event being held at Yolo Middle for another year, Pruett anticipates the site being the main location for the foreseeable future due to the size of the parking lot and gym. Saturday’s festivities were not limited to the school’s gym as attendees were welcomed with a ballet folklorico performance inside the cafeteria.
The dance pays homage to the various dance styles from Mexico’s regions and states. The country’s traditions are also infused in the clothing, with performers wearing a wide and vibrant dress on stage.
Spearheading the recital was Olivia Esquivez Gonzalez, founder and director of the Westside Fiesta Mexicana. Gonzalez said the organization performed at Saturday’s event to motivate others to participate for their well-being, including their physical and mental health.
She added that the program has helped participants’ confidence in communicating with others.
“As they continue in the program, they became more confident … they smile more, they are happy and they’ve also been telling me they get even better at school because they feel more confident,” Gonzalez said.
David Maison, an engineer with the Newman Fire Department, said he and two of his colleagues attended the event to inform others about fire safety. With this being his sixth year at the gathering, Maison added that it is a great opportunity to familiarize himself with the community.
“Being in a pillar of the community that the fire department is, it’s just huge to be a part of that,” Maison said. “They always enjoy seeing the fire department because they know that we’re here to save them or to help them out.”
With another school set to begin on Wednesday, August 12, Pruett said he is excited to work with some of the new district staff on how NCLUSD can help improve the lives of students and families from making them feel they belong on campus to offering leadership opportunities.
