BRUNO, Sask. – They come in a wide variety of colors, have as many pockets as possible, and the ability to carry a load without squashing one’s lunch. They are schoolkid’s backpacks.
The backpack has become a popular way to get a student’s stuff to school. But for children at Bruno School, 80 kilometres east of Saskatoon, this is not always ordinary school stuff.
While most students use their packs for books and lunches, the 225 kids at Bruno from kindergarten to Grade 12 are filling their miniature suitcases with other goodies.
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Some of the most unusual items they said they lugged to school in their packs ranged from Spiderman comics and flashlights to jars of dirt. Justin Tremel, a Grade 4 student, remembers carting 15 rocks in his pack to school while third-grader Nolan Moore says he once used his to carry fool’s gold.
Some students have more creepy and creative cargo. Adam Streitenberger, in Grade 2, recalled using his pack to carry caterpillars and worms to class while fellow classmate Cody Buckle tested his with dirt and garbage (for a school science project.)
But for most kids, what the backpack looks like on the outside is just as important as what is stored on the inside. For heavy homework, first-grader Marcel Tremel relies on his Hercules backpack while other popular pack-characters are Barbie, Sailor Moon, Looney Tunes and the Rugrats.
What drew Amanda Shewchuk’s attention to her pack was the way it attached her lunch kit to the front. Other packs were popular because of the numerous pockets and colors.
But aside from appearance, if you are going to be a schoolkid’s backpack, you have to be tough. Students shared tales of glue spills, ripped bottoms and swapped owners. Sarah Collin, in Grade 4, retold the story of the time the strap on her pack got caught in the school bus door as she was stepping off. Happily, it survived the ordeal as Sarah proudly hoisted her pack, still in one piece.
