It’s just a matter of days until area schools open for the academic year.

That can be a stressful time, and that’s why area school districts, churches, nonprofits and businesses work to find ways to improve the overall experience for everyone involved.

A big help is the back-to-school rally. They’ve now become a rite of late summer, with just about all districts and several organizations across the region holding one. The formula is simple — each event is filled with activities for students and their families, ranging from food trucks and other vendors to face-painting and the chance to dunk a teacher or administrator, to free haircuts and performances by school bands and cheerleaders.

At the heart of each presentation, though, is the opportunity for students to receive some basic school supplies — paper, pencils, pens, crayons, scissors and other items — and a book bag, essentials for the start of the school year.

Getting students ready to return to the classroom can be a time-consuming and expensive project. Studies about those costs vary. For example, the National Retail Federation estimated that families spent $874.68 per household in 2024, with overall totals down 1.84 percent. That includes spending on clothing, shoes, school supplies and electronics.

And that’s not all — the survey showed that there will be another $731 per child spent on extracurricular activities, including fees and equipment, according to Lending Tree.

Plus, it is estimated that teachers, on average, will spend about $895 out of their own pockets for school supplies for their classrooms, according to AdoptAClassroom.org. That’s an increase of 49 percent since 2015. In our region, teachers in Ohio spend an average of $928, while those in Pennsylvania spend $979 and those in West Virginia spend $508.

Those numbers can put a dent in the budgets of most families — and, sadly, might be out of reach for a significant number of others throughout the region.

All of it makes the rallies important components in the run-up to the new school year. That’s why organizations including the Urban Mission Ministries, 7 Ranges Entertainment, the Brooke-Hancock Family Resource Network and the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County hold events of their own each year. In fact, the library is teaming up with the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce and the Jefferson County Young Professionals to hold a Back-to-School Bash and Touch-a-Truck event from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday at the Main Library at 407 S. Fourth St. in Steubenville.

The first 200 teachers to attend will receive supplies and a chance to win prizes including gift certificates and pizza for a classroom party. The first 500 students to attend, meanwhile, will receive supplies, a free hot dog, chips and a drink.

Back-to-school rallies have become important events on the August calendar — they offer a chance for students and their families to spend time together and relax, bring communities together and, most important, help ensure students have some of the basic items they need to get their school years off to a good start.