With first day jitters students return to class

Jordyn Frazier entered her Hillview Elementary kindergarten classroom Monday morning wearing a purple face mask with unicorns, and took a seat on the foam squares teachers will use to help the children socially distance.

Kelly Thompson, wearing a Spiderman T-shirt for his first day of school, was taken to his Poplar Bluff kindergarten classroom Monday by school staff. Part of the district’s effort to prepare for COVID-19 this year included asking parents to drop students off, rather than walk the children to their classrooms.

At Fisk Elementary in the Twin Rivers district, students like fourth grader Tucker Emmons had breakfast at desks piled high with new supplies.

All three Butler County school districts returned to classes Monday after a nearly six-month break following the abrupt end of the last school year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A day normally met with some anxiety by parents and students, the first day of classes also held a welcome attempt to return to normalcy for many families.

“It’s back to normal. Please, Lord, let it stay normal,” said Jeralyn Goodman, as she dropped her son Will Goodman off for first grade at Hillview in the Neelyville School District.

Will was all smiles as sister Maddie, who is almost 1, and brother Spencer, 3, accompanied him to class.

His mother said she was pleased with the steps Neelyville is taking.

Will’s teacher, Gina Russom, has taught first grade for eight years.

While this year is certainly different — for instance water bottles are provided instead of water fountains — some things remain the same.

Her class planned to read “First Day Jitters” and enjoy some jitter juice (Sprite and Hawaiian punch) to shake off some of the new school year concerns.

“We have a smaller classroom and can’t really have them six feet apart, so they’ll be in pairs,” Russom added.

That seating arrangement will carry over to whatever room they’re in, like music or art, with the same pairs sitting together, she said.

Hillview teachers had to move out all of their supplies over the summer so the rooms could be thoroughly cleaned.

But Russom’s room looked just as homey as ever, with decorations meant to educate and brighten students’ days.

“That’s why we teach, we love doing this,” Russom said of the time spent preparing for students.

For Poplar Bluff parent Chris Smith, it was an odd feeling to drop his daughter off for kindergarten and be unable to go inside. Smith also has a son attending second grade at Oak Grove.

He had nothing but praise for the district and staff member’s efforts.

“I think our district has done a great job,” said Smith. “I wouldn’t want to be in their position at all. I think they (staff) are doing everything they can to make it right for everybody. They’re in a weird situation.”

Poplar Bluff kindergarten teacher Kellen Deffendall said students seemed to be adjusting to the changes well.

“The kids are coming straight to our classrooms this year, which I think is great for them. It takes a little bit of nerves away from them,” she said.

Preparing for the new year was a little stressful, according to Deffendall.

“Everything is new and a lot of it was unknown. We had a lot of questions, and there weren’t necessarily a lot of answers for us,” she said. “I think everybody has been so anxious to get started and get the school year going to see what really is going to play out and what steps we need to take to keep our kids safe.”

Poplar Bluff has worked hard to plan and prepare, and appreciates the patience of parents, said Jenifer Richardson, Oak Grove principal.

At Twin Rivers, parents like Amanda Elsworth were also excited to return to some kind of normal, and pleased with steps the district was taking to prepare for COVID. Elsworth dropped off 13-year-old Katielynn Flickinger for her first day of eighth grade on Monday at the Fisk campus.

Michael Cates was also pleased with the district’s efforts. He dropped off 12-year-old Braden Cates for the first day of seventh grade.

“I think he’s feeling comfortable here in this school. He’s been here his whole life,” said Michael Cates. “I think they’re going to do a good job as long as they sanitize and give the kids a chance to wear masks if they want them.”

It feels like the district has been waiting forever for students to come back, said Jessica Thurston, kindergarten principal, echoing the feelings of many Butler County educators.

“It just warms my heart to know the kids are here, the teachers are here and everybody is excited to be here,” she said.