With the incredible partnership among Impact on Education, Education Foundation of the St. Vrain Valley, and both Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley School Districts, the Crayons to Calculators program is a key component in tackling the achievement gap most schools in Colorado face.

Every once in a while, we have the privilege of meeting some of the families who are recipients of the C2C backpacks. (Each school is the primary distributor to their families). On a stifling hot day in early August – a week before the official Back to School Nights, a mother and daughter stopped by the Impact on Education office to pick up the needed five backpacks for Annika and her siblings. As Annika sifted through the massive selection of PreK through high school backpacks, searching for the perfect style to fit her brother’s and sisters’ personalities, her mother, Joy, expressed her gratitude for the Crayons to Calculators program.

“You always have the right supplies – it is exactly what each of my kids needs from the school lists. I am grateful that you pay attention to this, as it allows for my kids to be like all the other kids on the first day of school”

She explained that she loved coming to the Impact on Education office to pick up their bags because her children loved to have the supplies early.

“I love watching them spend time together, personalizing their backpacks and organizing all their supplies. It is such a stress relief to see my children walk confidently into the school building for the new year already prepared, and nobody knows that I cannot afford to get them this basic need.”

Then Joy’s face started to glow with the look of a proud mother. She said, “My oldest daughter is a senior this year and with the support of BVSD and programs like Crayons to Calculators, she is doing very well.”

Tears started to form in the crease of her eyes. “My Dana has a 4.0, and colleges are asking her to apply to their school – she will be the first in our family to go to college.”

After an exchange of hugs between Joy and the Crayons to Calculators Coordinator, Annika stood up with the five bags in her hands with a huge smile on her face and she proudly announced, “And I am going to be the second.”