Hundreds of Newark students will be sporting brand new backpacks in September, thanks to a visit from BIC's school bus which made a special delivery in the North Ward Thursday.

Five hundred stylish blue backpacks filled to the brim with BIC school supplies like highlighters, Wite-Out pens and markers were shared among students from Abington Avenue, Ridge Street, Park, First Avenue and Dr. William H. Horton schools.

"They were absolutely silent as the bus came through," said Abington Avenue School Vice Principal Sandy Heintz. "As soon as the bus doors opened, they started cheering."

The back-to-school giveaway is made possible by BIC's partnership with Adopt-A-Classroom, a nonprofit that supports teachers by providing them with much-needed classroom materials. Since 1998, the program has raised over $16 million for over 3.6 million students in low-income, high-need schools across the nation.

"It means the students are going to have what they need to be successful in the classroom," said Heintz, adding that the supplies will help curb teachers from having to dig into their own pockets to provide classroom materials.

This year, Adopt-A-Classroom and BIC are also donating backpacks to students in Washington, DC; Hartford, Conn.; Baltimore, Md.; Columbus, OH; Chicago, Ill.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Denver, Colo.; Sacramento, Calif.; and New York, N.Y.

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