When the magic of education begins

(I originally published the following column on the August 15 Turner Report Newsletter.)

As much as I loved summer vacations during my teaching years, I was ready to get back to business when August arrived.

I usually popped into whichever school I was teaching on the first weekday in August. I could lie to you and tell you it was to get my room ready, but that was never really my priority. I was usually able to do that in a couple of hours and never on the first day.

 

The first day was my day for walking around the building, seeing which of my fellow teachers were already there and which new teachers were joining the faculty.

I enjoyed walking the halls and seeing the work our custodians, the often unsung heroes of our schools, did during the summer.

I dropped in from time to time over the next couple of weeks, did a little work each day and made sure I was ready for opening day.

When teachers officially reported in the Joplin R-8 School District, we had to endure the annual ritual of the pep rally, which current teachers suffered through Thursday. (I know some of them enjoyed it, but I'm the one who's writing this column.)

I've never cared for crowds and never saw much use in trying to whip the teachers into a frenzy to get them ready for the new year. As well meaning as it may have been, I took it as an insult.

Still, I somehow managed to deal with a couple of hours of claustrophobia.

After the first couple of years, I began looking at the pep rally propaganda as just another obstacle on the way to the day I was really anticipating.

The first day of school.

When buses arrive and students enter the building that first day, that's when the magic of education begins.