Like many shoppers on a hot Wednesday afternoon, Sherri Fessler and her daughter, Brianna, made their own modest contributions to an estimated $17.6 billion back-to-school industry.

In the back-to-school area at ShopKo, Fessler pushed a grocery cart and examined prices on loose-leaf notebook paper. Brianna stood nearby, inspecting a lavender-colored backpack.

This year, the average American family will spend $527.08 on school clothes and supplies for school-age children, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation, a national trade group that tracks spending and consumer trends.

That is $83.31 more than last years average of $443.77.

Theyre not going to be far off, Fessler said of the surveys average, musing about her purchases.

Brianna will attend sixth grade at Jefferson County Middle School this fall.

Fessler said she plans ahead for back-to-school shopping. While she shopped carefully she paid only 9 cents each for glue sticks at another store she estimated she will spend $400 each for her two children on school clothes and basic supplies. But after setting aside money for school lunches, a physical education uniform, band books, saxophone reeds for her son, and paying other fees, she estimated she will spend an additional $150 each for the first two months of school.

That total comes to about $1,100.

Im getting right up there, arent I? she asked.

Shoppers spent $13.4 billion on school supplies for school-age children last year, down $4.2 billion from this year, according the the National Retail Federation.

The trade groups Web site credited electronics and apparel industries as gaining the most profits.

But many local families Wednesday were spending hundreds on the basics.

I think weve got all their clothes and backpacks at this point, said Mark Mushlitz, who shopped at Wal-Mart Wednesday afternoon.

At Wal-Mart, back-to-school shoppers negotiated traffic jams, pushing carts through crammed aisles at the southeast Bend store, sifting through boxes of notebooks and shelves of scissors.

Mushlitz estimated he had spent about $275 so far on clothes for Jonah, 7, and Ashlynn, 5. Both will attend Lava Ridge Elementary School in Bend in the fall.

After spending about $50 on supplies at Wal-Mart, that will jack up the total to about $325, he said.

But back to school or not, Mushlitz said his children are growing so fast that come each September, theyre ready for new clothes anyway.

Supply lists are available on most local school district Web sites. Districts also send them to large retailers like ShopKo, Wal-Mart, Target and Fred Meyer for reference, said Terri Radcliff, secretary at Bear Creek Elementary School in Bend.

Teachers determine what should be on the lists, which generally remain consistent year to year, said Mary Gotcher, an office manager at Cascade Middle School. Family Access Network advocates in the schools help lower-income students get the same supplies as everyone else, she said.

Every child is given an opportunity to have what they need, Gotcher said.

Each school has its own supply list. They also differ by grade level.

At Three Rivers Elementary School in Sunriver, kindergarten through fifth-grade students are required to own the usual suspects: No. 2 and colored pencils, crayons and notebooks.

Some students are also required to have slippers or shoes they can wear indoors. Students who attend the middle schools, sixth to eighth grade, are expected to bring a writing journal and sketchbook along with the standard notebooks, binders, pens and pencils.

High school students will likely be expected to buy at least a basic graphic calculator. Bend High Schools supply list mentions the Texas Instruments TI-30, which runs about $14.58 retail.

Kim Kersavage took stock of what she still needed at ShopKo Wednesday.

Her daughter Nicole will be a first-grader at Sisters Elementary School, so this was their second year of school shopping.

The two went to ShopKo after a shopping expedition at Sears. Two pairs of pants, some T-shirts and one sweat shirt later, Kersavage had spent about $100. She estimated she would spend about $150 at ShopKo for jeans and more clothes.

Im sure Ill probably be right in your average, about $400 to $500. Thats sad, she said.

Parents are not the only ones shelling out money.

Coleen Weber, a fifth-grade teacher at High Lakes Elementary School in Bend, said she spent hundreds of dollars stocking her classroom for students.

Theres always supplies you end up buying, things you need as a teacher, she said. Every year, you can take a teacher tax credit, like $250, that you can write off, and that doesnt even come close to what I spend.

Bulletin board decorators, posters, markers, notebooks and storage items topped this years list.

Thats always the fun part to me, is just decorating the classroom and getting it ready for kids, she said. Its also the most expensive.