LYNN — With the start of the school year fast approaching, the city’s public school district welcomed students back in style on Monday.
At a “Welcome Back to School” fair held on the Lynn Vocational Technical Institute field, students and their families were able to come together for food, music, free school supplies and COVID-19 vaccinations.
“It’s an opportunity for families to come together and get ready for the school year,” said Mayor Thomas M. McGee. “We encourage everyone to wear a mask, get vaccinated and continue to be safe to make sure in-person learning continues. It’s important to all of us that teachers see their students.”
At the event, vaccines were provided by Lynn Community Health Center and Massachusetts General Hospital.
In addition, members of the Lynn Teachers Union (LTU) and other local community organizations handed out free school supplies and books to visitors, and volunteers from City Hall registered adult family members to vote.
“When you work collaboratively, you have success,” said LTU President Sheila O’Neil. “We want our students to thrive.”
The fair was also attended by national American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, who is currently canvassing the country on a “Back to School for All” campaign. AFT provided $5 million in grants to communities in 30 states to fund events like Lynn’s. Locally, in addition to Monday’s event, Weingarten and AFT members will knock on doors to encourage residents to get vaccinated against COVID.
Weingarten said that it was important for students to have in-person classes this year after spending so much time during the pandemic learning virtually, for their social-emotional health and academic recovery. However, she emphasized that with the highly-contagious Delta variant, the educational community also needed to stress the importance of learning safely.
“Our back-to-school events were going to be really important when we planned them in May, and they’re even more important now,” Weingarten said. “We want every single school to be a place where parents want to send their kids, educators want to work and kids thrive.”
AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos echoed this sentiment, saying that she was happy to see students and families getting excited for the start of the school year.
“It’s about starting a new year, even though we might be a little anxious about it,” she said. “Coming together and being safe is what’s important.”
