Summer vacation is over here in Iowa!

This week, kids all over Eastern Iowa headed back to school for the 2021-2022 school year. That includes Brain's three kids, who all had their first day on Wednesday. Chase is now a junior in high school, Carly is in 7th grade, and Cayleigh is in 6th!

KHAK
Holly Brainard
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According to new stats from the National Retail Federation, parents in the U.S. are expected to spend a total of 37.1 BILLION dollars on back to school supplies this year. That's around $849 per household, which is $59 more than last year. The most expensive category is electronics, followed by clothes and shoes. With a return to in-person classes for many students across the country, pajama pants are no longer an option!

This week, we asked Iowa parents to share their children's first day of school photos for the new school year. It's a tradition for many households to take a first day picture each year, whether the kids want to or not! I think I stopped letting my mom take my picture during those tumultuous middle school years, but now I wish I would've cooperated a little more. Here's my first day of kindergarten photo from 1996. Check out that Esmerelda dress and that lovely bowl cut my mom gave me!

Courtlin
Courtlin
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There were a TON of great submissions on Facebook, so we picked out a few of our favorites and put together a little gallery. You can DEFINITELY tell which kids are excited and which ones are not! Here are some of the photos posted by parents on our Facebook page:

Iowa Kids Head Back to School in 2021

Kids all over Eastern Iowa headed back to school this week! Here are some of the adorable first day photos that were submitted by parents!

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