Backpacks Filled With a Message: Area Religious Centers Ring In The School Year With Activities To Prepare, Reach Out to Youths
By Sandhya Somashekhar Washington Post Staff Writer

(September 6, 2006) At the Loudoun County home of Tim and Shally Stanley, four sturdy backpacks stuffed full of notebooks, binders and pencil boxes sit in the hallway, ready for the first day of school.

But they won't make their debut Tuesday, the first day of classes at Harmony Elementary School in Hamilton. The four Stanley boys will hoist them onto their shoulders today and take them to church, where they will pray for a productive and spiritually fulfilling school year during a special ceremony called the "blessing of the backpacks." the rest