Their Years-Long Voyage Starts On First Day For Kindergartners

‘That’s a big ‘A’ and that’s a little ‘a,”’ said Ashley Rodgers, 5, pointing inside a book she made during her first day of kindergarten at University Elementary.

Thousands of Spokane Valley students returned to school on Wednesday, but for kindergartners, it was a journey into the unknown.

Reader boards throughout the Valley welcomed children back and warned drivers to slow down. Secretaries answered the phone breathlessly, as if they’d just run a long distance.

And kindergartners and their parents, leaving each other for the first time, cried as they parted at school doors.

“We had more moms cry than children,” said Cindy Towers, a teacher at Trent Elementary. “It’s really hard for them to give up their babies.”

The Valley’s youngest students spent the day coloring, cutting and listening to stories.

“I haven’t been here before. I’m new in this class,” Rodgers said to a neighbor.

“So am I,” Aubrey Hunt, 5, replied.

At University, where the day’s greatest mishap was a bee sting, 5-year-old Dean Eagleburger announced after two hours that he hadn’t learned anything yet.

“What?” asked his teacher, Cathy Walker, turning to him in surprise. “What did you learn in the hallway?”

“Not to run, not to talk, keep your hands to yourself,” Dean recited quickly.

The girls in the class were decked out in their best clothes - frilly purple and white lace dresses, plaid jumpers with matching shoes, and colorful shorts outfits.

“My mom chose it,” said Lauren Koehler, 5, of her first-day dress. “I have more school clothes I’m going to wear.”

Walker’s students were having a blast, but ‘teacher,’ as she was called time and time again, looked a little frayed by day’s end. Two little boys began tugging at her shirt, vying for her attention, while she helped a little girl with her ABCs.

“It’s so hard with so many kids and only one Mrs. Walker,” she said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo