On Thursday and Friday, back-to-school events will be in Taylor ahead of the fall semester.
Panorama
God’s Way Christian Baptist Church will host its annual Panorama Back to School event Aug. 13 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the church, 1101 W. Second St. in Taylor.
“It’s a back-to-school program for the youth, where we will talk to them about safety, shooting, gun violence, domestic violence and things like that,” said Pastor Billy Ray Reese. “We’ll talk to them about being safe at home and being able to go back to school dealing with trauma.”
The church is partnering with Taylor ISD, the city of Taylor, Taylor Police Department and other churches and organizations.
During the event, there will be a school supply giveaway in addition to helpful information.
Students will have an opportunity to meet and greet police officers, firefighters, city leaders and teachers.
The event has previously been held at the church over the past few years. Reese said the program is not just for students, but for parents as well.
“It’s going to give parents information about how to address issues around violence, crisis and trauma,” he said.
He referred to the shooting at a Uvalde elementary school May 24 and said there are students in Taylor talking about it.
“When those kids have questions, parents need to know how to address these youth in order to give them a good answer so they are not stressing over these problems.”
The event is free and open to the community.
Bash
Taylor’s municipal government and Taylor Police Department want to help everyone celebrate before heading back to school during the annual Back to School Bash on Friday, Aug. 12.
The bash will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Heritage Square pavilion. The event is a great opportunity for kids to get to know their school resource officer (SRO) and members of the Taylor Police Department. This year, there are two new SROs joining Taylor Middle School and Taylor High School.
“We want to be sure that kids heading back to school, especially in middle and high school, get to know and recognize their SROs,” said Commander Joseph Branson. “The Back to School Bash is a great way for not only students but also the parents to get to know their local police department. We really look forward to this event and getting to know everyone in our community.”
The Back to School Bash is open to children of all ages. There will be fun games, prizes, goodie bags and popsicles. There will also be guest appearances from the Taylor cheerleaders and Waddles the Duck.
This year, there will be three games scheduled during the event:
• 6:30 p.m. – Cornhole tournament;
• 7 p.m. – Tug-o-war; and
• 7:30 p.m. – Trivia.
Following the event, the Taylor Parks and Recreation Department will have their last Movie in the Park of the season featuring DreamWorks animated film “The Bad Guys” in Heritage Square with free popcorn.
For more information, call the city’s public information office at 512-352-5448.
