MORRISTOWN — Although the end of summer is dreaded by some children, the Union Local School District aimed to provide a fun back-to-school fair on Thursday evening to get students excited for the coming year.

Superintendent Zac Shutler said he wanted to reimagine a back-to-school fair so the students would be able to have fun while receiving the information and supplies they need. He said the arrival of August is a sign that the return to school is right around the corner, and he knows that some parents — and even some children — are excited about school starting again.

“But I think we forget that there’s anxiety that goes along with the start of the school year, whether for the kids or even for the parents, how the routine changes,” Shutler said. “So we wanted to make it fun and engaging for the kids and informative for the parents.”

He added that he wanted to give everybody a chance to get their feet wet again when it comes to getting back to school.

Staff members volunteered their evening, spending time distributing various school supplies for free.

Shutler said the fair also allows the students and parents a chance to get familiar with different community organizations and services that are offered throughout the Ohio Valley.

“We’ve got some colleges on campus, first responder vehicles, law enforcement, Chick-fil-A, our Rotary club and so many great organizations that are here to support our students and our community and hopefully take away some of that anxiety and show them that school is a good thing,” Shutler said.

Belmont College, Ohio University Eastern, U.S. Air Force Recruitment Center, U.S. Army Recruitment Center, Union Local Jets Booster Club, Union Local Parent and Community Engagement Committee, Chick-fil-A, Lafferty Moose Lodge 1462, Ohio Department of Transportation, Belmont County Sheriff’s Office, Bethesda Volunteer Fire Department, Smith Township Volunteer Fire Department, Morristown Volunteer Fire Department and many more community organizations were on hand to provide information to the students and parents during the the fair.

The fair had free back-to-school hair cuts provided by Changes Hair Salon, a bounce house, multiple food trucks, face painting and a petting zoo. The petting zoo was provided by the school’s agricultural education teacher Kory Smith and students of the school’s Future Farmers of America club.

Smith said the petting zoo is a good way to showcase the animals that FFA will be working with in the upcoming year.

“FFA does a fantastic job. Our kids that are part of the FFA are getting ready for the Belmont County Fair,” Shutler said. “When we have events like this, they enjoy showing their animals, and our younger students enjoy getting to see the animals.”

He added that the goal of the students presenting their animals is to build a great FFA program.

“We hope that when our younger students see our older ones showing their animals, it’s going to get them interested in it, too,” Shutler added.

Following the fair was the school’s annual meet the team event, which saw all of the fall student-athletes being introduced.

Shutler said that in addition to the parents and students getting introduced to the fall sports teams, it also gave them an opportunity to meet the school’s new athletic director, Drew Greenwood.

Shutler said the school district has seen impressive gains with its sports program and is excited to see what this year’s student-athletes will achieve.

“Our volleyball team has been strong the last several years. Our football team had the best year they’ve ever had in their history. We have a strong golf team. Our soccer program is growing, cross country is doing well, and our cheering squad was the OVAC champions last year. So we’ve had a lot of success with our athletics,” Shutler said.

Union Local’s first day of classes for the 2025-26 school year is Aug 20.