PRESS PHOTOS BY DONNA GEWERTZ Emily Paukovits, a fourth-grade student in the Northampton Area School District, waits for her turn during Grace United Church of Christ's Blessing of the Backpacks Sept. 20.

Grace UCC volunteers Cindy and Gary Trively, of Northampton, show the T-shirts given to students attending the event at the 902 Lincoln Ave., Northampton, church.

The Rev. Heather Kurtz gives Tracy Rolls, a teacher at Siegfried Elementary School, and her daughter Ashley, a freshman at East Stroudsburg University, miniature crosses at the church's annual Blessing of the Backpacks.

Steve Myers, of Coplay, provides musical entertainment at the event.