With 10 minutes left before the official start of the school year, the lobby at Harborview Elementary School was a mass of humanity.
Parents, students and staff members edged past one another, many of them dripping from the rain outside. Behind the front desk, Office Assistant Prerana Bathija worked as quickly as she could through the line of students wondering where their classes were. She gave out directions and the occasional high-five as she figured out where students were supposed to go.
As 8 a.m. finally came, the lobby emptied out rapidly. Bathija has been at this job for nine years now, and the first day of school doesn’t overwhelm her at all. When asked how she deals with the chaos, she just shrugged.
“Organized chaos,” Special Education Teacher Steve Byers said as he walked by Bathija.
“There you go,” Bathija said, gesturing at Byers. “It is usually busy, yes, but we have plenty of adults here helping out.”
Wednesday was the typical first day of school — a day of reunions, meetings, nerves and excitement — and those at the Juneau School District handled it as usual.
‘Optimism prevails’
Spirits were high all around the school district Wednesday. Thunder Mountain High School Principal Dan Larson was giving new JSD Human Resources Director Darryl Smith a tour, pointing out everything from the decorations on the walls to the fact that TMHS now has one computer or tablet for every student enrolled.
Larson also pointed out the tough financial situation for the state and for the local Board of Education, and expressed gratitude that the schools have enough for now.
“We’re getting the resources we need to complete the mission,” Larson said. “Optimism prevails.”
Earlier that morning, the Marie Drake Planetarium was pulsing with music. Rick Trostel, a music teacher at Montessori Borealis, was playing the keyboard and leading a rendition of “The Golden Goats,” a song written by Montessori Borealis students.
Twenty-six years ago, Trostel and his wife Chris brought a ceremony they named “Wisdom Day” to the school. Inspired by an elementary school in Moscow, the ceremony welcomes students and teachers back from the summer. Students bring flowers to present to teachers, and everyone stands in a circle and sings songs.
The ceremony ends with two of the oldest students walking two of the youngest students out of the room and to their classrooms. All week, Mike Hekkers had been trying to convince his eighth-grade son Aubrey to step in as one of the older representatives. When the time came, Aubrey did indeed volunteer to take part in the ceremony.
“We had been prepping him for that all week,” Mike said afterward, beaming. “He didn’t want to do it, but I’m glad that eventually he caved and did step up and be the big kid, that eighth-grade escort. That was neat to see.”
As the rest of the students drained from the room, numerous parents remained, chatting and laughing as they caught up after the summer and looked forward to the new school year.
“At this point, our middle schoolers don’t really want to be seen with the parents,” Mike said. “It’s great to bond with the parents and sort of laugh together at that.”
Reunions and meetings
As the clocks were about to hit 10 a.m. at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School, Vice Principal Kristy Germain was answering parent questions in the school’s media center upstairs. She answered queries about everything from whether the school has a pep band to whether middle schools students should have their own computers.
Afterward, Germain stepped into the hallway, where students were scrambling from locker to locker, looking for theirs and trying out their new combinations. Especially for the sixth graders, this is one of the most important aspects of the first day — mastering the locker they’ll have all year.
Down the hall, three seventh graders were still trying to come to terms with the fact that they were no longer in sixth grade. DHMS has a system where each grade has its own staircase and can only use its assigned staircase. New seventh grader Callista Martin said she nearly went up the sixth grade staircase before a friend pulled her back.
Seventh graders Clayton McDonald and Mallory Welling stood beside Martin and nodded in agreement at the confusion of the first day. Welling said she’s a mix of excited and nervous for the school year, while McDonald said he’s happy to be reunited with friends he hasn’t seen in a while.
Welling added that the first day of school was good for both reuniting with old friends and meeting new ones.
“There’s this girl that I was meeting, Kara. She’s really nice,” Welling said, “and we have all the classes together until the last two (classes).”
Welling, Martin and McDonald scurried off to their class, not wanting to be late on their first day. The halls quickly cleared, with the so-called organized chaos over with for the moment.
“You get to see both,” Germain said of the first day. “The chaos of lockers in middle school, then some of that day-one community building.”
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com.
Principal Michelle Byer helps first-grader Laila George through the crowd during the first day of the school at Riverbend Elementary School on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017.
Kindergartener Leif Christianson winds up to deliver a high-five to the school mascot, The Beaver, during the first day of the school at Riverbend Elementary School on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017.
Crossing Guard Krista Arvidson helps Clint Farr and Denise Koch and their daughter Siena Farr cross the street to Harborview Elementary School on the first day of school Wednesday. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)
Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School teacher Tennie Bentz leads a community-building game on the first day of school Wednesday as student Nelson Abel participates. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)
