Katia Diaz is here with her last blog post of the summer! Boo…but yay to a great summer, and a great back-to-school. Thanks, Katia!

Today is my last day as an intern here at Scholastic, which can mean only one thing: school is just around the corner! Preparing for back-to-school can be an exciting experience for students and parents. I asked around to see how everyone’s various childhood traditions made preparing for a new school year fun:

• Lia remembers making a special trip with her family to pick out new pencils, binders, dividers, and notebooks.
• Alex enjoyed clothes shopping and relaxing at the beach for her last day of vacation.
• Nadia highlights her love of education and a fresh start as she shopped for school supplies.
• Each year Meghan looked forward to a new Trapper Keeper binder.
• Kristen made back-to-school shopping feel like Christmas in September! Each year she and her mom went back-to-school shopping and only got a few items of non-school clothing for the weekends. However, she always waited to cut the tags off and wear her new “after-school” clothes until after school had begun!

Yes, it’s fun to shop for things you think you’ll need for the school year. But preparing for a new year involves more than just hitting the stores for new pencils! What are you doing to mark the transition between end of summer and school? Or, what you’re your favorite back-to-school traditions as a kid?