Is it really that time of year again? After nearly 80 days of summer vacation, North Kitsap School District students return to the friendly confines of classrooms for the first day of school today. It’s time to put away the swimming attire, water skis, wakeboards and sandals in exchange for three ring binders, pencils, protractors, school clothes and perhaps a new backpack.
The end of summer and the beginning of a new school year typically arrives faster than anyone could ever imagine. This is especially true for elementary, middle school and high school students.
The days of sleeping in until noon came to an abrupt halt today as the daily grind of waking up early in the morning begins for thousands of North End students.
I can recall my days as an adolescent when I found it difficult to wake up in the morning during sunny September days after spending my summers sleeping in until 10 a.m.
While I may have been disappointed about losing a few hours of sleep, I was always stoked about the first day of school. It was opportunity to see some of my friends that I hadn’t seen since June. As a child, that was my favorite moment of the first day of school.
The first day of school sometimes can be a time of apprehension for parents, as they prepare to send their children into the classroom after having them at home all summer. For some kindergarten parents, it could very well be the first time their child has been away from home for an extended period of time.
On my first day of kindergarten at Belfair Elementary in September of 1987, I can remember my mother walking me down to the bus stop in front of my house. As I waved and the bus pulled away I thought I wouldn’t see my mother until I arrived home from school in the afternoon. I was wrong.
When my bus arrived at the school she was there waiting for me in the parking lot. She walked me up the stairs and into my classroom for the first day of school. She wasn’t alone as probably half of the kindergarten parents escorted their children into the classroom the exact same way.
It wasn’t the first time and definitely won’t be the last time something like that happens.
The 2007-08 school year will be year of transition at the NKSD. With the eagerly anticipated opening of Kingston High School taking place today, to the reconfiguration of the grade levels taking place at schools across the district, the next nine months will be a year of adjustment for not only students but for faculty, parents and community members as well.
The opening of Kingston High School’s beautiful state-of-the-art 113,000 square foot facility is one of the biggest events to hit the North Kitsap area in quite sometime. The newest high school in Kitsap county truly is a crowning jewel of the North Kitsap region. This will be something the community can be proud of for years to come.
To each and every student filing into classrooms across the North Kitsap area landscape this 2007-08 school year:
Welcome back!
Shaun Scott is the sports/schools reporter for the North Kitsap Herald.
