Box Elder students get backpacks and supplies

Box Elder School students had reason to celebrate Thursday as they filed into the school gymnasium by grades to pick out backpacks that had been bought and made available by Plain Green, the  online lender owned by the Chippewa Cree tribe.

Plain Green Community Development Officer Jessica McGratty said enough backpacks had been provided for every student.

"We should have about 470 ... for every single student," McGratty said.

"We worked with the principals here to get the numbers for enrollment."

McGratty added that Plain Green had also bought school supplies.  

"We bought every single student all their school supplies ... everything from paper to notebooks, pencils, pens, rulers, crayons, everything you can imagine," she said.  "We even went so far as to get the teachers their supplies as well, like staplers, protractors and art supplies for the classes."

Plain Green Director of IT and Facilities Steve Parker said the gesture is part of a community outreach program that the lender does because it's part of the community.

"A month ago, we did the same thing at Rocky Boy schools, just to make sure the kids have everything they need to go to school and have an enjoyable educational experience," Parker said.

Box Elder Elementary School Principal Julie Macdonald said the gesture was a fun way to get the kids to pick their own backpack and fill up on pizza on their way out. Several boxes of Pizza Hut pizzas had also been bought by the lender.

In the hall, among the hoards of students were wearing their brand-new green or purple backpacks. They all said they liked their backpacks. One of the children called it a parachute.