It's the first day of school - for parents, too

One could plainly see the anxiety on William Burke's face as he looked into the kindergarten class at W.J. Gurganus Elementary School on Monday.

It was the first day of school - not for Burke, but for his daughter, Ashaureah.

"It's bad. I don't even want to go to work," the young father said as he watched along with his wife Rosa Chapman.

"I'm nervous," Chapman said. "I can't let her go. It's my only child."

Other parents clearly felt the same way as they stood by the door of the classroom watching their youngsters take a first big step toward growing up.

Tierra Brown waved to her young son, Nasir Hood, who was going to school for the first time, too.

"I was happy at first, but now I don't want to leave him," Brown said.

"I think the parents are as nervous as the children," said reading teacher Gail Cole, as she was offering encouragement to a room full of first-timers.

Carla Cottrell, who has taught kindergarten for 10 years, said that for the first two weeks the kindergarteners would be spending only half days at school to help in the transition.

"We also do home visits for each of them," she said. "It helps a lot when we're at their house. It allows them to show us some of their things."

On this morning, Cottrell was starting school with 23 students, many just five tender years of age.

She says she offsets the fear of the strange new classroom by offering lots of smiles.

"We always try to be warm and inviting," Cottrell said. "It's good to give them a buddy and let them know they have a friend."

Pam Brazelton, a mother from New Bern, helped her son, Bryce, make a quick friend in Ryan Meadows as soon as the two boys sat down at their work table together.

"Ryan's father knows your father, Bryce," she said crouching between the two boys.

In the next few moments Bryce was asking his new friend questions.

"You play baseball? You play sports?"

The two shared crayons from a plastic bin while filling in patches of color on a pre-drawn rendering of a school bus.

But soon it was time for the bell. Nearly 23 heads popped in surprise.  

The voice of Principal Pat Williams came over the speaker.

"It's our first day of school and we're happy you're here," he said in his morning announcement. "I want to say a special welcome to our kindergarteners."

In the next moment, all the students rose to say the Pledge of Allegiance, and about half the class used their right hand - the other half used their left - to cover their hearts.

Afterward, Cottrell made note of how good they were being on their first day.
"Y'all are doing an awesome job," she said while looking down at the students' pictures.

"That's really good. You can color in the lines already. Can you color that tree? What color are trees?"

In short order, every student had a confident smile and was ready to get to work learning the days of the week and the months of the year.

"Kindergarten is fun because you get to learn a lot of things - to read and learn how to count," Bryce Brazelton said.

And apparently it's also fun to teach kindergarten.

"In this grade you can see more growth than any other grade," Cottrell said. "And they always remember their kindergarten teacher, so you want it to be a positive experience."