School Starts

Summer ends early around here since the public schools start in mid-August. One clue that the first day is coming is the final wine club before the college kids head back to their respective campuses. Ella, Ian, and Jacob were all set for their sophomore years and Claire was preparing for her senior year of high school. This is always a bittersweet gathering - so sad to see them go but so proud of who they are becoming.

Since Callie was starting high school, the mom of one of her friends thought it would be great to kick of the high school years with a mother-daughter dinner. These six girls made it through a challenging covid-middle school experience and were ready to tackle the next phase of their academic careers.

Although we started some new traditions we had to keep some of the old. Out came the poster board. High school for Callie and middle school for Reese meant that we needed our annual pictures and signs. The girls knew it was coming so were happy to comply.

Or at least they didn't put up too much of a fight when we got them on the back patio for the photo shoot. They were also pretty excited since we finally got them new backpacks. It's the little things that make the first day easier.

The main thing Callie was nervous about was getting from class to class in a new school that was much bigger than Morton. Henry Clay has over 2,000 students, so we could understand her concern. She took time to prepare for the first day by creating a color coded map of where to go for each class period. It was pretty impressive and our understanding is that it worked well.

Now that she knew where she needed to go she wanted to meet up with her friends so they could all go through metal detectors together. Yes, it is a sign of the times. She and her schoolmates have to pass through metal detectors every morning.

The first day went well, aided in part by her map and her soccer teammates. She loved seeing the upperclass teammates in the hallways, and she even had one senior in her first period class. 

Reese also seemed to have a great first day. The 6th graders have their own wing of the school, but she still had a plan for moving from room to room. You can see here that she had to double backpack on her first day since she would be going straight to soccer practice after basketball tryouts in the afternoon. Talk about hitting the ground running. We're hoping for great years for both of the girls and they each got off on the right foot.