Late shoppers gear up for school
Steven Lane/The Columbian
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
By KATHIE DURBIN, Columbian staff writer

School starts Wednesday for most Clark County students.
For 6-year-old Emma Brooks, getting ready is all about pink and brown.
Mix-and-match pants and tops, skirts and leggings, stacked in the shopping cart at Target on Monday, mean she’ll be fashion forward when she starts first grade at River HomeLink school in Camas this week.
Emma’s grandparents helped out with shoes and trendy outerwear from upscale stores, said mom Shelley Brooks. Monday’s shopping spree was for stocking up on the basics.
“She won’t wear a skirt without leggings or short shorts,” Shelley Brooks said. “She does have a sense of fashion. She knows what she wants, even at 6.”
She’ll hold up clothes for Emma’s inspection, she said, and Emma will say, “Yes, no, yes, no.”


Over in the school supply section, Target employees Victor Gonzalez and Colin Jensen were scrambling to keep up with the demand for spiral notebooks (a five-pack of 70-page notebooks for just 50 cents!) and other basics. By mid-afternoon, the store had run out of colored pencils and that elementary school staple, Pink Pearl erasers.
Pee Chees — the original folders, not some generic brand — are always in demand, Jensen said. In fact, many schools specifically require them. “They want the brand, they want consistency, so kids don’t get teased.”

Fashion also matters when it comes to kid-sized knapsacks and bookbags. “It’s hard to predict what the brand of the year will be,” Jensen said. But Target guessed right this year with lots of Hannah Montana, Bratz and Camp Rock! packs, he said.

Brooke Dircksen of east Vancouver was filling her shopping cart with help from Cierra, who will be a senior and a member of the first graduating class at Union High School, and Caitlin, a student at Pioneer Elementary. Three-year-old Hope was along for the ride.
Checking their lists, the girls still needed a protractor, glue sticks — and a ream of computer paper.
Nancy Deboever was shopping alone for school supplies for her twins, both students at Union High. This year, she said, they delegated the task to her.
“I get the bare minimum,” she said, including glue sticks and posterboard. “It’s more fun when they’re in elementary school.”

http://www.target.com/gp/search/602-6987254-9866210?field-keywords=bratz+backpacks&url=index%3Dtarget&ref=sr_bx_1_1&x=0&y=0