The First Morning

NBE Kindergarteners Start Their School Careers

It was a foggy and humid morning as parents and students lined up in front of the doors of Natural Bridge Elementary School. A nervous, excited energy permeated all who gathered, ready to enter. On another side of the building, high school students waited for the buses to arrive to take them to Rockbridge County High School, looking experienced and ready for another year of school.

Last Wednesday was the first day of school for students in the Rockbridge County and Lexington, where similar scenes were playing out throughout the area.

Inside Natural Bridge Elementary, teachers waited, beaming, outside their classrooms, for students to arrive and settle into their new places at tables and desks.

Every staff member wore an identical T-shirt: bright blue, with an image of a rocket flying out of a book on the front. On the back was a list of 10 community sponsors whose donations made it possible for the shirts to be distributed to all staff members, bus drivers and students. The shirts will be a common sight this year, with a plan in place for them to be worn at all announced school spirit days.

In Shanna Mohler’s kindergarten classroom, children looked uncertain, waiting for permission to start coloring.

“Wait just a few minutes and then we’ll be able to start!” said Mohler, as one new kindergartener arrived, accompanied by his older brother.

“I’m so happy to see you again!” proclaimed the teacher, hugging the older child before explaining that he had been one of her students last year.

The students were directed to find blue folders in their desks or cubbies. One student held hers up excitedly: “I have one!” Mohler explained that the first thing the students would do every day would be to look in those folders to get ready for the schoolwork that awaited them.

“Now, before we do anything else, let’s talk about lunch,” she told the students. “I have here on the board labels with all your names on them. If you want a hot lunch, which today is chicken nuggets, place your name on this side of the board. If you don’t, place your name on this side.”

Most of the students wanted chicken nuggets.

In a neighboring classroom, Ryan Clifton’s kindergarten class was settling in, some students more relaxed than others. Clifton was decked out in a wizard robe over his school T-shirt.

“This is my second year doing the robes,” he explained later. “It helps set the theme and feeling of the room. It’s also a way to show the kiddos that we can express ourselves in different ways, and that we should never feel embarrassed about expressing ourselves.”

This approach helped some of the more emotional new students.

One kindergartener was in tears from having to part with her parents. Clifton gently showed her to her seat and told her that the other students nearby understood her feelings. She quieted down as she looked around at her classmates, and at the colorful decorations adorning the walls and corners of the classroom.

Less than half an hour after the busy, yet orderly entrance through the school doors, the building quieted down and all inside got down to the business of learning.