Sept. 19, 2007 — The children could barely stay in their seats Wednesday in anticipation of the governor coming to give backpacks to 93 kindergarten students at St. Croix Christian Academy near Five Corners.
While awaiting Gov. John P. deJongh Jr., the students sat in chairs lined up in the shade of a tree and sang children's hymns, led by teachers and Principal Linus Gitten.
The governor arrived a little after noon. In a flurry of excitement, deJongh greeted the children and began to pass out royal blue backpacks bearing the seal of the Virgin Islands.
"These are from me to you," deJongh said. "Don't let your brothers and sisters take them. Don't say you have nothing to put your homework in. Remember to listen to your teachers and parents. And have a good school year."
The governor personally gave out as many backpacks as possible, along with bear hugs and handshakes. Approximately 2,000 backpacks have been given to kindergarten students in various V.I. schools. The event Wednesday marked the final distribution of the backpacks throughout the territory to public, private and parochial kindergarteners.
St. Croix Christian Academy is a faith-based, nondenominational school with 249 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
"It was nice for the kids to see the governor and get the special backpacks," Gitten said.
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