Annual Back-to-School Fair Serves Thousands

  • Community prepares students for the 2021-22 school year.

    For an entire year, a group of dedicated district employees and community partners worked tirelessly to plan the Lewisville ISD (LISD) Back-to-School Fair – an annual event that provides thousands of students free backpacks, supplies and more to start the school year.  

    Volunteers stuff 4,000 backpacks with supplies.

    To begin the 2021-22 school year, the district shifted gears from hosting a traditional fair to a hybrid fair that included campus distribution of backpacks and supplies and a small in-person health fair for students to receive eye exams, immunizations, sports physicals and more.

    Volunteers pack stuffed backpacks into boxes for future campus delivery.

    “Although the health fair did not resemble the spirit of the traditional fair, our providers, vendors, families, nurses, and volunteers created a positive atmosphere to jump start the joy of going back to school,” LISD Director of Health Services Melanie Vincelette said. “Students and parents were able to access health and wellness resources, and I am grateful to everyone for their participation in making our hybrid fair a success.”

    Volunteers deliver backpacks to schools.

    To bring the fair to fruition, it took 35 members across nine committees, close to 700 volunteers, and more than 100 hours of volunteering to administer 350 immunizations, 90 vision screenings and 15 sports physicals; and to organize 253,000 items of supplies to be stuffed in 4,000 backpacks and deliver them to every LISD school. Once the backpacks were delivered, school counselors and Communities In Schools site coordinators connected with families to ensure students had them by the first day of school.  

    Volunteers hand out backpacks stuffed with supplies to families.

    “We are fortunate to be surrounded by a community of organizations and individuals who provide support to our students and families,” LISD Elementary Social Worker Beth Ann Beckman said. “Even during these uncertain times, our community compassionately and graciously stepped up to ensure thousands of our students started the school year well-prepared.”  

    Volunteer nurses work LISD Health Fair. 2021

    In addition to volunteers stuffing backpacks and delivering them across the district’s 127-square miles, the needed supplies, backpacks and health fair services wouldn’t be possible without the 2021 LISD Back-to-School Fair Sponsors. Special thanks to The Village Church and Valley Creek Church (Platinum Sponsors); Costco Wholesale and the Greater Lewisville Association of Realtors (Diamond Sponsors); Granite Construction, Morningstar Storage and Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church (Gold Sponsors); and CareVan, Lions Club, PediPlace and Walmart (Service Sponsors).

    Child receives a vision screening at LISD's Health Fair. 2021

    “The Back-to-School Fair is a great example of the strong community support we have in our district,” LISD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kevin Rogers said. “Thanks to hundreds of staff, volunteers, many exceptional community partners, and the work of the LISD Counseling and Social Work Services and Health Services Departments, this event would not be possible. Despite the continued challenging circumstances, I am proud to say we were able to serve more than 4,000 students this year.” 


    In 2017, Lewisville ISD and community partners held the inaugural Back-to-School Fair – an annual event that provides thousands of students free backpacks, supplies and more to start the school year. Learn more about the fair at LISD.net/backtoschoolfair. Follow Lewisville ISD on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see more student experiences throughout the school year or visit Best Schools in Texas for more information about joining the LISD family.