Our Eagles’ First Day of School

The first day of school has always been both scary and exciting for me as a school leader, and this year has been no exception. One of the common traits of a caring and successful teacher is that they want everything to be just right for that first moment when students walk into their classrooms, from their classrooms to their lesson plans. They work hard leading up to the first day of school to make sure that happens. Principals work hard to make sure the buildings and student schedules are just right for that first day. Directors and coordinators prepare diligently to have their areas running smoothly on the first day. Everybody wants this year to be the best year they have ever had. That includes this superintendent! Though, I can say that it has been an extremely smooth start excluding a couple of power issues in the junior high school that were beyond anyone’s control. In fact, I can’t think of a time when I was prouder of our staff than this year. We had a great week of inservice, and everyone did their fair share in preparing for those last few details of welcoming our kiddos.

The first day of school is also one of excitement in spite of the anxiety of wanting things to turn out perfect. Today as I walked through the campuses before the bell rang to start school, I saw parents dropping off their students and placing trust in the staff members who received them. I saw students smiling as they met friends that they haven’t seen in several months. I saw staff members high-fiving and hugging students and receiving them with love. I saw students walk in wearing their new outfits, and I think back to those days when I had my first day of school as a student. I remember picking out just the right clothes that I was going to wear on my first day of school. As though I might change my mind or forget, I always set those clothes out separate and ready to put on when I got up to get ready in the morning. When I saw all of the new clothes that students were wearing this morning, I couldn’t help but to think that many of them did the exact same thing.

I also love seeing all of the new backpacks that the students bring with them on their first day. Some picked their packs out with special care as they wanted just the right match to their own personalities. Some brought with them what they could afford. Some got what their mothers picked out for them. Don’t think for a minute that each and every one of those backpack carriers did not look at all of the other packs to see if theirs was the “coolest”. I like each and every single one of them. They represent those who carried them. The nice ones, the old ones, the expensive ones, and the tattered ones – all belonging to their present and their future. I do not know whose unicorn backpack the one pictured above belongs to, but I can only imagine it belonging to a little princess that is just as sweet as her backpack.

Just as our students pick out their very best and most awesome clothes to wear today, they also let us know with this subliminal gesture that they want to make a good impression. They want to impress their peers, and they want to impress their teachers. They hope that they will be accepted by both. They want to be loved, and they want to be liked. It is our job as educators to always make them feel loved, liked, and accepted even when their peers do not. Even as they test the limits of our patience throughout the year, we can never lose sight of this, and we can never let them see anything other than our love and acceptance. While society may fail them in many ways, we can never fail them in this!

I hope and pray that everyone had a great first day of school. No matter how awesome your first day was, may your second day be even better!