GOSHEN —
It’s that time again — the time that kids dread and many parents wait all summer for.
It’s time for school to begin.
Teachers at area schools spent this week prepping their classrooms for incoming students of all ages. Second-grade teachers at Waterford Elementary School spent Wednesday working on their classroom organization and planning new reading curriculum before a meet-and-greet with students Wednesday night.
Lisa Jordan, one of those second-grade teachers, said she is looking forward to meeting her students, especially because she is teaching the second grade for the first time at Waterford.
“I’m a little anxious to fit everything I want to teach within the school day,” Jordan said. “There’s so much to fit in.”
Jordan has taught in Goshen Community Schools for three years and she said she has already put in more than 40 hours of work prepping her classroom as of Wednesday.
“The way the room is set up and where things are can set you up for a good year,” she said, gesturing to the set up of her classroom.
Jordan’s 24 students will experience a slightly different school year than in the past, a move that is aimed at limiting summer learning loss, according to Waterford second grade teacher Lindsay Potgiesser.
“We’re moving to a more balanced school year (by starting earlier and having more frequent breaks),” Potgiesser said Wednesday. “We’ll have more breaks throughout the school year, including a week-long fall break and a week and a half in the spring.”
No break for band
Goshen High School Band Directors Tom Cox and Josh Kaufman said they will not be able to take a week off of band practice during fall break.
“We’ll have to have some rehearsals,” Kaufman said. “We just can’t take a week off in the middle of the season.”
Kaufman and Cox spent the week leading up to school working on selections of music for the jazz band and prepping sheet music for the 175 students in the band. Crowds can expect a bit more of a “classical” selection, according to Cox, for half-time band performances.
“Our show is different every year,” he said.
Cox said the band is already looking at competitions, including attending the Grand National Championships in Indianapolis from Nov. 8 through 10.
‘August means school’
Art and English teacher Susan Hepler Yoder said she is looking forward to seeing her GHS students, especially those in her freshman Student Resource Time class, which is like a homeroom students will have for the next four years.
“I’m also going to be a freshman class sponsor with another teacher, David Martinez,” she said. “We’ll help with the Back to School Dance and Homecoming.”
Hepler Yoder said she has also directed the musical for the past 32 years, and she also acts as the yearbook advisor.
“The yearbook brings together both design and words, both art and English,” she said.
GHS English teacher Marilyn Graber said she is looking forward to the routine most of all.
“I’m ready to get back into it,” she said as she straightened up her classroom. “I’m ready for the school year to begin. For me, August means school.”
Breaking News
Related Photos
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Goshen High School art and English teacher Susan Hepler Yoder examines a mannequin head she has in a closet of still life props as she organizes her classroom for the new school year. SAM HOUSEHOLDER
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Kari Bone, a special education teacher's assistant at Prairie View Elementary School, prepares students cubbies Thursday afternoon. SAM HOUSEHOLDER
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Goshen High School custodian Mark Snyder is silhouetted as he washes a window at the school Wednesday afternoon. Snyder was helping to get the school ready for the return of students today for the start of the 2012-13 school year. SAM HOUSEHOLDER
Goshen students heading back to class today
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