It's time for school
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 24, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Ethan Jenkins, 6, gets a few words of encouragement from kindergarten teacher from last year Brenda McClary before going into his first-grade classroom this morning at Tommy's Road Elementary.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Malak Hafsi, 5, places her Hello Kitty book bag into her cubby in Karri Jernigan's class this morning as she begins her first day of kindergarten at Tommy's Road Elementary.
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Renette McKinnon, second from right, walks daughters, from left, Makayla McKinnon, 10, Shaquala Darden, 8, and Anasia Phillips, 6, down the sidewalk in front of Tommy's Road Elementary School on their first day of school this morning.
The first day of school.
"Thank God!" Renette McKinnon said, as she arrived to the entrance of Tommy's Road Elementary School this morning.
Her three children were more subdued.
Anasia Phillips, 6, Shaquala Darden, 8, and Makayla McKinnon, 10, had been up since 6:45 a.m. but were reserving judgment about the occasion.
It was also a first day of sorts for April Grace Rains, starting as guidance counselor at the school.
"They told me to stand in the yellow hall," she said of her station near the cafeteria and gymnasium, where early arrivals would wait for the first bell to ring.
The school is sectioned off in colors. The "purple hall," for example, is where kindergarten and first-grade classes are located.
Kindergarten teacher Karri Jernigan was posted by the door to welcome her new charges.
Her own daughter, Lizie, seated at a computer, was awaiting her own bus later in the morning. The sixth-grader was headed to classes at Wayne School of Engineering.
Kindergartners are on a staggered schedule the first few days to acclimate to their new surroundings. Mrs. Jernigan said she has 16 on her roster, a smaller number than she typically has, and appreciates having only a handful come in on those first days.
"This is the best part about it -- to learn their names before they all come in on Friday," she said.
As her first students began to arrive, she provided something to keep them occupied.
"We bring out the Play-Doh, which is a rarity," she said. "We don't usually do that, just to give them something to do with their hands."
Their introduction to kindergarten features similar activities, she said, to discover where their skills are -- cutting and coloring and other assessments.
"And we'll do a lot of learning the procedures," the teacher said. "We'll walk around the school, get a tour."
Across the hall, Kelli Edwards chatted with parents dropping off their children.
Mrs. Edwards, a kindergarten teacher, is starting her 26th year of teaching, the 16th at the school.
Joshua Briggs, a second-grader, admitted he had a little trepidation about the whole experience.
His mother, though, was prepared for the day to begin.
"I'm excited for the new year," Nagina Briggs said. "This is the last one of mine in school, so I'm excited."
The mother of three also has a 23-year-old who just graduated from college and a daughter starting her junior year at Eastern Wayne High School, taking "all honors classes," she pointed out, proudly.
"And this is my last one in grade school so I'm excited," she said of her son. "Even though he's not excited about it, I am because every year is different -- new challenges, new materials. I'm really excited to see what the curriculum is this year, with the changes they made.
"There'll be more work (for me) to do, because it begins at home."
Rebecca Hayes arrived at the school loaded down with bags of supplies for her daughter, Autumn.
"She's excited," Mrs. Hayes said, speaking on behalf of the solemn little girl at her side.
That all changed, though, when a bug climbing up a brick planter caught the eye of the first-grader.
"What's that?" she asked.
"I think it's a slug," her mother replied, explaining that her child is a "bug lover" with a lot of varied interests.
"She told me this morning she wants to be a mountain climber when she grows up," Ms. Hayes said. "Last year she wanted to be a butterfly."