Glazer Children’s Museum Hosts 4th Back To School Fair

Last Saturday, families of the Tampa Bay area were lined up around the block of the Glazer Children's Museum waiting to attend the 4th annual Back To School Fair. With over 2,500 attendees, fair-goers explored the three levels of the state of the art museum packed full of vendors displaying their services for the Tampa families. Enjoying everything from nutritious food samples from Wholesome Tummies to discussions about various virtual schooling options by K12, the fair left no unanswered questions or desires for additional resources.

Four years ago, Angela Ardolino of Parenting with Angela, created the biggest back to school event to help Tampa Bay families get prepared and excited about the upcoming school year. The reason for this event every year is simple. Krayl Funch, Director of Home & Garden and Events for Tampa Bay Parenting magazine, explained it best by saying, "The goal of this event is to give families a place to learn more about programs and services available to them within the community. Our partners and the attendees both benefit from this face-to-face interaction."

Aside from giving away thousands of dollars worth of prizes and gift bags, this event also gave parents a free opportunity to ID their child incase any emergency happens. The Florida Masonic Child ID Program was one of the many vendors at the Back To School Fair, providing free and beneficial services such as child finger printing, ID cards and brief interviews. Local mom, Lisa Marie, described her delight when she found out the program would be at the fair, "I was thrilled! It is every parent's job to keep their kids protected, and in an event that something goes wrong, they need to take every measure in order to bring their kids back to safety." Lisa Marie went on to say, "Paying only $5 to get into the fair, and being able to have my daughter entered in the Child ID Program is priceless." The Florida Masonic Child ID Program identified 133 kids throughout the event.

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