VALLEY ROUNDUP : Winnetka : Boeing Is Giving Back With Packs for Students

The hundreds of fourth- and fifth-graders crammed into the auditorium at Sunny Brae Elementary School craned forward to see.

The orange stage curtains dramatically parted to a collective gasp. Piled 4-feet-high on the stage were hundreds of new red, yellow, blue and gold backpacks, topped with a giant bow.

Boeing presented backpacks to 560 Sunny Brae students Friday as part of Project Backpack, a national program by the aviation giant to help students succeed in school.

Each pack contained notebooks, pencils, glue, folders and other school supplies.

Boeing locations have built alliances with about 20 schools around the country, but employees at the Canoga Park facility aim to do more, said Jeffery Curran of the Sunny Brae class of 1961.

“We are not just going to drop these backpacks off and then say see you later,” he said. “We’re going to follow this up with a mentoring program.”

Each week 10 to 15 Boeing volunteers will go to Sunny Brae to help children read.

The majority of students at Sunny Brae have been designated at risk of failing academically. Many come from low-income families, and more than 14 languages are spoken at the school--from Urdu to Vietnamese; 65% of the students have been designated Limited English Proficient.

“For most of our students the primary language spoken at home is not English,” said Sue Michiels, the school’s bilingual coordinator. “Many of these kids do not have books, pencils or paper in their homes.”

Curran, a father of two surviving children, said he decided to devote his life to helping kids the day his third daughter, Tara, died of cancer 10 years ago.

As soon as they could, the kids leapt to their feet and raced to get in line for the backpacks.

“I got two glue pencils,” shouted a little boy, holding them up.

“It’s nice,” said 9-year-old Jonathan Mejia, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s really nice.”