Wiscasset students get a headstart on the new school year Aug. 14 during the annual Set for Success event held 1-3 p.m. at the elementary school. Since 2019, Feed Our Scholars, a local community group, has sponsored the back- to-school program geared toward providing pre-kindergarten to grade five students with school supplies. 

This is the fourth time Feed Our Scholars has hosted a Wiscasset Set for Success. This year’s format is similar to the original in which students picked up their supplies in mid-August. The pandemic disrupted Set for Success in 2020 and 2021 resulting with  Feed Our Scholars providing teachers with school supplies for classroom distribution.  

But this year, students will register at the school and receive a prepared shopping list provided by their classroom teacher. 

Mary Coventry is a Feed Our Scholars member. Set for Success is one to two programs Feed Our Scholars sponsor. Set for Success “feeds” students minds by providing them with school studies for the new school year, according to Coventry.  The second is a nutrition program where students’ backpacks are filled with nutritious foods for the weekend. Mary Coventry is a Feed Our Scholars member. She reports Set for Success organizers are prepared to provide 240 students with school supplies.

The event begins by students registering. Students are given a shopping list compiled by various classroom teachers. Students receive a red backpack with a Wolverine insignia. They travel station-to-station filling their backpacks with school supplies. “We want students to have their own shopping experience. So that’s why we give them a shopping list,” Coventry said. 

Feed Our Scholars is providing pencil boxes, water bottles, glue sticks, colored pencils, Crayola markers, pencils, cap erasers, pocket folders, Post-it Notes, notebooks and scissors.  “It’s a real community event,” she said. “Everyone starts off on a level playing field with wonderful school supplies,” she said. “It’s a real community event with dedicated people making it a wonderful experience.”

The event is more than providing students with school supplies.  Other schedules events include  local fire and police hosting a “mini-touch” events where students can touch a fire truck or police cruisers. There will also be several information booths providing community information. Students also receive a free haircut and eye examination.