I always love the first day of school. Excited children with scrubbed faces and brand-new backpacks stream onto the freshly waxed floors of the school. Their bright eyes reflect my own feelings of excitement and anticipation. It's September, and another school year has begun.
First-day doors open onto hectic activity. In the preceding week, staff meetings cluttered with “administrivia” interrupted teachers' busy preparation of their classrooms. The hurried hiring of new staff has followed last-minute resignations. And even on that first day, the “urgent” pile on my desk dwarfs the “to do” pile!
Although we know that school is about learning, it can often seem otherwise. We expend endless time organizing schedules, ordering books, and ensuring that buses run and toilets flush. Principals struggle to be available to everyone at all times about all matters while simultaneously attending a steady stream of (often inconsequential) meetings.
But the first day of school never loses its magic. Amid all the preparation and administration, the real reason for school makes an appearance as the students pour into the halls, ready to learn and eager to meet new teachers and friends. The students' energy echoes the enthusiasm of teachers and the relief of many parents.
Each year I visit every primary classroom and spell out to kids what school is about. “Learning,” I pontificate, “is all that counts.” I always tell students this story:While walking on a Lake Michigan beach one summer, I spotted a little boy, about 5 years old, in bright blue swimming trunks. He was running back and forth, filling a huge yellow bucket with water from the lake, hurrying to dump the water in a big hole in the sand, and then repeating the process. I asked what he was doing. “Oh,” he said, “I plan to empty the whole lake into the hole I've dug. It might take me all day so I must hurry.” And with that, he returned to his endless task.
I explain to the children that there is a whole lake of things for them to learn and that they must work very hard to empty as much of that lake of knowledge into their brains as possible. The kids don't get it, really. Months later, when I query kids about the little boy on the beach, they all remember the yellow bucket, and most recall the bright blue swimming trunks. Some even remember that school is about learning. But the teachers get the idea. I try to convey my vision of schooling simply and hopefully. We must direct our attention toward learning and nothing else; learning should be the sole benchmark for all school decisions.
Principals at the Midwest Principals' Center tell many stories about beginning the school year. One school initiates its new kindergartners by giving the children T-shirts emblazoned with the motto “George Washington School. We seek the truth. We speak the truth.” Fifth grade mentors present their assigned little brothers and sisters with the T-shirts in front of the assembled school. The principal of the Marlowe School describes the way teachers begin the year with a “garage sale.” They decide what traditional practices should be disposed of, which served well in the past but can now be “sold,” and which they treasure enough to keep on using.
This initial flame of energy often sputters and flickers as the year progresses. Book bags are beat up by October; the long days of January and February test our spirits and hope. Some schools renew spirit by rewarding students' accomplishments and affirming teachers in small but meaningful ways. I once heard of a principal calling teachers' homes during school hours to leave a message acknowledging some success with a student. The teacher, returning home after a long day, would be greeted by that affirming message.
Recognizing the child who conquers reading, develops a creative science project, or successfully pulls the curtain for the school play also revisits the joyfulness of the first week of school. “Accentuate the positive” should be our motto, even as fall becomes dreary winter, or as standardized tests besiege us. Recognizing and celebrating the joy and power of learning help maintain a high energy level and foster continual clarification of the purpose of school.
