This Week: WE’RE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL 🧑‍🏫

Lace up your gym shoes, sharpen your No. 2 pencils, and start practicing your “dog-ate-my-homework” routine because IT’S TIME TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL, BABY!

Granted, these two Listies are not literally heading back to the hallowed halls of their alma maters, but we felt it was as good a time as any to look back at some of the books, shows, and music that defined our youth* 📓

*for reference, our trip down memory lane will take us through elementary school in the mid-2000s, middle school between 2008–10, high school from 2011–15, and college until 2019.

READING IS FUN-DAMENTAL 😜

Across our 16 years of schooling, there have been a number of books (and even some plays) that have made a strong impression on us. In honor of the season, we crowned the Top 5 Most Influential Books across four distinct stages of our lives 📖

🤫 SHHHH, MY SHOW IS ON! 📺

Being a kid is not just about reading boring old books though, is it? We seem to remember a fair amount of time spent plopped in front of the TV, soaking up whatever antics Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and PBS could throw our way.

We looked back at the Most Memorable TV Shows of our childhoods, from the quasi-educational programming of our preschool faves to the animated and live-action shows that consumed elementary and middle school ✨

WILL YOU GO TO THE DANCE WITH US? 🕺

Somebody call 9-1-1—shawty fire burning on the dance floor! A good taste in music is something that develops over time and is relatively unrefined when you’re in your adolescence. With that in mind, we dug back in the recesses of our minds to craft the Top 10 Iconic Middle School Dance Jams of our generation 🎶

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT 🧑‍🎓

We couldn’t get away with a “back-to-school” newsletter without talking to some actual kids, now could we?

We spoke to four students—one in Kindergarten, 4th grade, 11th grade, and college—to see how their interests and feelings about school differed 🤔

OVER/UNDER: SCHOOL SUPPLIES 🎒

Need help deciding which supplies you actually need from your “required” list? Well, former organizational prodigy Emily is here to offer up some thoughts on the most over- and under-rated school supplies ✏️

🚨 BONUS LIST ALERT 🚨

…and that’s all folks!