Tuesday was a bittersweet day for Nikki Leedom as she dropped her kids off for the first day of school in Waynesboro.
“Michael was raring to go. I was not. It hurt my heart a little,” said Leedom.
It was the first day of middle school for Michael Courtney, a milestone Leedom wasn’t quite ready for. Her younger daughter, Mackenzie Courtney, was leery of her first day of first grade at Waynesboro Primary School after attending kindergarten at Blythe Elementary School. New surroundings and new children were the reason for the apprehension, Leedom said.
Like many area parents, Leedom is hopeful this school year will be different from last, hopeful for a sense of normal.
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Laura Kaminer’s youngest daughter, Lucy Claire Kaminer, is heading into the fifth grade at Columbia County’s Lewiston Elementary School Thursday and is another child excited for the start of the school year, her mother said.
“Last year, she was begging me to home school her,” said her mother.
Over the summer, that changed.
“She’s so excited; she hasn’t mentioned home schooling once,” she said.
Some of the frustration for the soon to be 10-year-old had to do with partitions in the classroom and lunchroom and the sense of isolation, she said. Plus, there was a disconnect with the family from the school. Kaminer has four children between the ages of 9 and 23, and she never missed an open house and took part in other school-related activities. Last year was different.
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“We never met her teacher,” she said.
The mom and daughter have had fun doing the back-to-school shopping and preparing. Over the summer, Lucy Claire Kaminer blossomed and gained a new sense of independence and fashion-sense. She enjoyed picking out her new outfits and already had planned what she’d wear to the open house Tuesday and on her first day of school, Laura Kaminer said.
But like Leedom, Kaminer has a tinge of sadness.
“She’s my last one, and this is my last year of elementary school ever,” she said.
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School starts in Richmond County on Thursday as well, and at the Pasquale home, Samantha Pasquale’s two school-aged daughters, Penelope, 10, and Zipora, 7, who are part of Warren Road Elementary School’s arts-infusion program.
The two girls enjoyed the school especially the arts with dance, drama and visual art as part of the curriculum.
However, unlike the other two moms, Pasquale has no sense of melancholy as the school year approaches.
“I am so ready,” she said.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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