Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 24, 1995                   TAG: 9508250026
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: N-30   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: TONYA WOODS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LIST MAKES BUYING SUPPLIES EASIER

Well, those days are long gone. And, judging from the many aisles of back-to-school goodies, it's easy to see today's students have plenty to choose from when it comes to notebooks, lunch boxes, pencil holders, bookbags, and, for the older students, locker organizers.

"I don't really care," said 8-year-old Andrea Bidanset, when asked what type of school stuff she preferred. She will begin the third grade at Cave Spring Elementary School.

She did seem a little partial to the assortment of Lisa Frank folders as she walked up and down the aisle of school supplies at Wal-Mart. With colorful pictures of almost anything from hugging penguins to a girl in a bikini standing next to a hot pink Cadillac, the Lisa Frank collection of folders is far from dull-colored construction paper folders.

Fortunately for Andrea's mother, Rebecca Bidanset, and hordes of other parents out there, moms and dads won't have to succumb to their children's desires for the most popular or more expensive school supplies. Thanks to school supply lists provided by the schools, students will know exactly what to buy for the school year.

Parents can either go to their child's school for the lists or they can find them at the entrances in Wal-Mart and Hill's.

The list is a great back-to-school shopping guide for parents, too, Bidanset said. She and her daughters were busy comparing the Cave Spring Elementary School supply list to what was in their shopping cart. They had already picked up a couple of notebooks, a 24-pack of Crayola crayons and water-based paint.

"Teachers are so specific in their subjects," Bidanset said. "The list keeps her from picking out things she doesn't need."

Buying school supplies still adds up, even with the lists from schools, said Mary Trudell of Roanoke. She and her son, Peter, who will start second grade at Highland Park Elementary School this fall, were also busy gathering school supplies.

The array of funky art and almost wacky designs on things as small as pencil sharpeners can sometimes be pleasing to the eye. Pencils come as more than just plain yellow wooden sticks with lead in the middle. Now they're automatic and use lead refills. They're in "fashion packs," in colors like lime green and turquoise. And just two of these fashionable pencils cost about $1.40 more than 10 wooden pencils.

For those dull three-ring notebooks with no pockets inside and no cool pictures on the front, the cost is about $3. Now, notebooks also come in stylish canvas coverings with secret compartments and pockets for calculators and computer disks. These can cost as much as $15.

Some of the hotter items on the shelves include backpacks with suede bases, Lion King and Pocohontas lunch boxes, locker organizers, Trapper-Keeper styled notebooks with a few compartments and room for at least three folders, and white and black speckled composition notebooks.