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The start of the school year brings with it excitement and confidence, according to local elementary school students and their parents.
Fourth- and fifth-grade students who started school Friday said they look forward to the activities and subjects they’ll study during the school year.
Valencia Elementary fourth-grade 9-year-olds Darren Cordova, Andre Ortega, Jordan Pacheco and Dallas Tivas said the excitement begins with unpacking school supplies.
“I like reading, unpacking and getting to meet different teachers,” said Tivas.
“I’m kind of excited to meet new teachers,” said Pacheco. “My aunt teaches fourth grade. We get to walk down the hall and learn where the classrooms are.”
Pacheco said a highlight of the first day was learning attention getters, such as “one, two, three — eyes on me; one, two — eyes on you.”
Fourth-grader Myleigh Banda, 9, said that the first day of school can be uneventful but she enjoys it when she starts doing math.
“You get to work with different materials,” said Banda.
Pacheco and Tivas agree that math is a fun subject to learn.
“I like to work with numbers to add and subtract,” said Pacheco.
Cordova said he enjoys writing and drawing at school while fellow fourth-grader Andre Ortega, 9, said he enjoys reading.
“It’s how... like how amazing it is to read,” said Ortega. “(I look forward to) getting 100 AR (Accelerated Reader) points and getting something (for it). I (also) like going outside to play.”
Fourth-grader Joni Foster, 9, said she enjoys learning all of the subjects taught in school, adding that she enjoys playing basketball, volleyball and tetherball.
“We’re waiting for the coach to put it (tetherball pole) out,” said Foster.
Tivas said he enjoys playing football while Banda said she looks forward to “PE and all the sports and field trips.”
All six fourth-graders said their parents are excited for them to start school.
Lindsey-Steiner Elementary fifth-graders Peter Avery, 11, Josiah Bwana, 10, and Corinne Jacobson, 10, said they also enjoyed their first day.
“(I enjoyed) lunch and recess,” said Avery. “(I like being) on the swings.”
Jacobson said she enjoyed lunch time and added she is excited for “anything basically.”
“I found out during recess that basketball is a very good sport for me,” said Bwana.
Parents of R.M. James Elementary students spoke about the excitement and anxieties of starting the school year during assessment testing on Friday.
Kayla Duran, mother of 6-year-old Rylie, said her daughter is very excited to start school.
“I’m excited for her to make friends and to see her achieve her goals,” said Duran. “She loves to learn and be a helper.”
Duran said she usually gets anxious about the first day of school, because it is important to give the right first impression to classmates and teachers.
Nora Chavez, mother of 6-year-old Savanna, said the start of schools gets her daughter out of the house.
“It puts them in a schedule and a routine,” said Chavez.
Judy Crume, grandmother of 7-year-old Samuel Bertrand, said she enjoys getting free time to work on pottery and watercolor painting with her grandchildren going to school.
“They get to be around other kids, other opinions,” said Crume. “They’re part of a whole group. I think that’s really important.”
Crume said she isn’t anxious about her grandchildren starting.
“This is life,” said Crume. “This is the way it is. That’s a part of it, just learning about dealing with whatever comes up. The kids are happy. It goes as it goes.”
Edenis Munoz, mother of 8-year-old Allisson, said she is confident about her daughter starting because her daughter is very excited.
“She’s made it this far,” said Munoz. “She’s happy to come back to school. So far she loves her teacher. She’s so eager to see her friends from last year.”