‘Save the Children’ reading bus tour makes stop in Columbia

COLUMBIA, Miss. (WDAM) - A cross-country, back-to-school bus tour that provides school supplies and other educational materials for children made a stop in Columbia Saturday.

Save the Children’s “Summer’s Better with Books” tour set up camp at Friendship Park for several hours.

Children from surrounding schools got backpacks full of school supplies, including notebooks and boxes of crayons.

They also participated in several fun and educational games.

“I think it’s good, because parents don’t have to buy stuff for us and they’re supporting us,” said Nebreshia Smith, one of the students who attended the event.

“I think it’s amazing, because it’s really cool to just go around and meet people,” said Wyatt Terell, another student who attended.

The goal of the tour is to keep kids interested in reading and learning over the summer months.

“We’ve found exciting ways to keep the kids reading and learning all summer long, so they don’t lose all the knowledge that they built up during the school year, so when they go back, their minds are fresh and they are ready to go,” said Chrissy Morgan, community relations tour manager, for Save the Children.

The 20-city tour began in Santa Monica, Calif., on June 1.

It wraps up in Boston, Mass., on Sept. 8.

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