Ready for school to start?

Kina Aikau, 7, center, checks out the contents of the new backpack she received from the Spokane Salvation Army on Thursday .

Santana McCullough was quiet but deliberate as he pushed aside the red and blue backpacks for one in olive green during the Salvation Army’s Backpacks for Kids event.

The bashful 6-year-old unleashed a smile when he looked inside his new pack: “Oh! Scissors, markers, crayons and a box.” Still smiling, the 3-foot-tall Spokane boy headed for the door and slung the pack over his shoulder. “This is big,” he said.

Parents with kids in tow started lining up at 5 a.m. outside Spokane’s Salvation Army. When the doors opened at 8 a.m., the line wrapped around the entire city block. The charitable organization was prepared with 3,500 backpacks to distribute – the largest number since starting the school-supplies giveaway 10 years ago. Jody Lawrence Turner, SR

I’ve got a 7th grader and a 12 grader this year and so far all I’ve purchased is some spiral notebooks and pencils. I think I’ve got back-to-school denial syndrome. Are you and your kids ready for school to start?