Starting with a blank slate
2019-20 school year began with summer preparations
HERRON — The line of five buses is ready to let Wilson Elementary School students off.
Cars are parked in the parking lot as parents walk their children into school.
Students are smiling from ear to ear, ready to see their classmates and teachers, but some are sad to leave their parents for the day.
All the different emotions mean one thing: It’s the first day of the 2019-20 school year.
But, a lot of preparation takes place before the first day of school. Teachers spent summer days decorating their classrooms, custodians spent the summer cleaning classrooms and waxing floors, and maintenance staff worked to make sure everything was in working order before students arrived.
Wilson kindergarten/first grade teacher Brandie Gapske said preparation begins in the summer, labeling journals and cubbies and going over the curriculum.
“I like to have a theme, and this year, our theme is Camp Learn a Lot, and I feel like it makes the kids more excited when they come in and there’s some fancy stuff in the classroom,” Gapske said.
Wilson teachers were in the building throughout August, readying their classrooms. Gapske said it’s not uncommon in mid-August to see teachers in the school getting ready.
“We just want to be prepared for the kids,” she said.
Second/third grade teacher Melissa Habermehl said it’s exciting to have the students back, but it’s also overwhelming and stressful, because there are a lot of details for teachers to remember before the first day of school.
Habermehl said teachers have to work hard to meet the needs of every student. She said that’s a concern for teachers, because they don’t know what students need until they meet them and learn more about them.
Wilson Principal Lisa Hilberg said it’s thrilling to see students run to the door on the first day because they’re excited to be back at school. She said they’re excited to see their friends.
“They’re starting with their blank slate, and I am just wowed by the idea of all they’re going to learn in the upcoming year,” Hilberg said.
School is a new experience for preschoolers and kindergartners and their parents, Hilberg said, and the goodbye is sometimes tougher on the parents than on the kids.
“I think, for the most part, they’re excited to get back, and those that are sad that summer is done seem to get here and the excitement starts to rub off on them, too,” Hilberg said.
Hilberg said this school year is different, because classes are technology driven, with Chromebook computers. This is the first school year every Alpena Public Schools student has a Chromebook to use during the school day.
“That’s a big deal, because we’re meeting them with what they’re interested in,” Hilberg said. “APS has really stepped up to meet that challenge.”
Wilson matches new students with a buddy at the beginning of the school year, Hilberg said, because it helps the new students become familiar with the building and the routine.
Fourth-grader Isaac Thomson said he’s nervous about the first day because the fifth-graders are bigger and know more, while fourth-grader Addisen Christensen said she was excited to be back because she got to meet her teacher.
“You get to meet more kids and you have new friends,” Christensen said.
Fifth-grader Eli Werth said the first day of school is different because it’s a new grade for him.
He’s already thinking about next summer.
“We’re one step closer to being done,” Werth said on the first day of school.
Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.