First day filled with jitters

The day begins early for Shaw Middle School cafeteria manager Lynn Strahl.

It’s dark when a custodian opens the door for Strahl at 5:45 a.m.

And it’s quiet for a short time on the first day of school.

Everyone’s nerves are a little jittery. Some teachers arrive earlier than usual. Students come as early as 7 a.m. to find their classrooms.

“Every year they get a little anxious,” Strahl says.

She preps breakfast – French toast, or yogurt and string cheese.

Strahl, who’s been at Shaw for 14 years, knows some of the students in this low-income neighborhood look forward to the routine of a regular meal and a friendly face in the cafeteria.

“I just love Shaw,” Strahl says. “I love the neighborhood and the kids.”

Strahl was one of the thousands of people affected by Tuesday’s return to school for Mead and Spokane Public Schools. Classes start today and Thursday at most Spokane Valley schools.

This week is a return to a more structured schedule, now that the summer break of long days and open calendars is behind many people. Now, households with school-age children will be watching their time more closely as they live by the clock.

7:20 a.m.: Christine Rooney, a seventh-grade science teacher at Shaw, gets her first classroom visitor, a jittery new student with his mother by his side.

“We missed orientation,” the mother says.

Rooney welcomes the student, repeats his name and says he should wait by the office.

“I always love the first day of school,” Rooney says. “I’m excited.”

Across the hall, U.S. history teacher Gene Ray listens to National Public Radio and prepares to brew his first cups of “good coffee.” Ray and a few other teachers grind their own beans daily in pursuit of a more perfect cup in the morning. It’s a ritual for the seventh-grade teacher.

To combat his jitters, he came in a little earlier.

Ray began his post-college career working in a downtown restaurant. He switched jobs in his mid-30s.

“I knew I was really supposed to be a teacher,” Ray says.

7:40 a.m.: More students arrive outside Shaw and encircle the school. Two students peek in the windows. Behind them several more students walk past the school on their way to Rogers High School.

“I went to Shaw last year,” says one teen not interested in slowing down as she walked with two friends.

7:50 a.m.: Hundreds of students migrate toward the high schools, most of which start at 8 a.m.

Students in cheerleader skirts walk near classmates with large headphones. Some have blue hair.

For the second year, Shadle has asked that only the freshmen arrive at its 8:35 a.m. start time. On the first day, everyone else is asked to come at 10:30 a.m. That gives the freshmen a chance to get acclimated.

8 a.m.: About 515 freshmen cram into the Shadle hallways.

Maria Devine, parent of a Shadle freshman, Breanna Devine, walks toward the high school side-by-side with her daughter. As they near the front door, the chatter of energetic laughing, shrieks and cackles hits their ears. It’s the kind of excited talk only young teens can generate, for hours on end.

As Devine weaves her way through the front doors, she gets 30 feet before she notices Breanna has stopped at the door and is now cowering in the corner with a friend. Her mother walks back and entices her daughter to follow her through the crowd. Breanna first tries hiding behind her mother, then reaches around and covers her mom’s mouth with her hand as they walk.

8:18 a.m.: Assistant principal Pauline Zambryski yells to the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, head to the gymnasium!”

Most go willingly. Others are pulled into the gym by friends. Once through the door, a scene from a Broadway musical emerges.

“Summer Loving” from the “Grease” soundtrack blasts from a sound system. Bright lights bounce off the shiny floor, which smells of wax. Teachers and student leaders in yellow shirts dance to the music.

Once in the gym, students walk through a gantlet of 100 older students in yellow shirts who give smiles and energetic high-fives to everyone.

“YMCA” starts playing, and most everyone, even the freshmen, are moving their hands to form big Ys and Ms and Cs.

New Shadle Principal Herb Rotchford welcomes the Class of 2008, the first group of students that will be required to pass the Washington Assessment for Student Learning test to graduate.

Rotchford challenged them.

“Four years from now what are you going to say you accomplished and what have you contributed to our great community?” Rotchford asked.

Sophomore Codi Roholt, 15, sits outside the gym as she waits for friends. She thinks about that cold feeling of not knowing anything as a freshman.

“There were juniors and seniors that really helped me out,” Rohold says. “I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t know where to go.”

10 a.m.: Classes are well under way at Pratt Elementary, which borders the two neighboring school districts, West Valley and Central Valley.

In class, third-graders sit in clusters of six desks pulled together. They follow teacher Dan Frye as he explains their self-portrait project, which includes their favorite things to see, smell, taste and hear.

Students raised their hands and explained how they like seeing dogs, television and homework.

“Homework?” Frye says. “I knew this was a smart class.”

They like smelling brownies, McDonald’s and flowers.

“Ah, good one,” Fry says.

“The sound I like to hear is silence,” says one girl, who explains that her sister is loud.

Frye also says that was also a good answer, as are the many others that came.

“This is probably the smartest group of students I’ve had in 20 years,” Fry tells his student teacher before the class, starting what is likely to be a great relationship with his students.

Soon it is time to take their first lunch of the year, followed by their ride home by bus, parents and friends.

3 p.m: Crosswalk volunteers appear in orange vests and guide groups of students across busy roads, a ritual that will be played out throughout the year.