Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
HENNISY PESTKA, a first grade student, makes her way on to the bus after her first day of school on Tuesday at Luther L. Wright School in Ironwood. Tuesday was the first day LLW became a K-12 facility.
IRONWOOD - The first day of school provides a unique set of challenges for students.
New teachers, classmates and lockers can make the day seem daunting.
For students in the Ironwood Area School District, Tuesday provided a new challenge - a new building, or newly repurposed building.
Not only was Tuesday the first day of school, but it was also the first day of Luther L. Wright School being a K-12 facility. Kindergarten through second grade students made the move to LLW from Sleight Elementary.
Sleight will remain open, housing the 4-year-old Great Start Readiness Program and Gogebic County Community Schools.
According to Superintendent Tim Kolesar, things on the first day went well.
"This morning, helping to guide kids from the bus were the National Honor Society kids and the JROTC kids," Kolesar said. "They took groups of kindergarteners, first graders and second graders and directed them where to go. The third through 12th grade kids have been here before, so they knew exactly where to go. Everything went very well."
The addition of a new bus drop-off lane at LLW helped ease traffic concerns, something elementary principal Nick Steinmetz was glad to see.
"Having the drop-off lane helped with traffic," Steinmetz said. "Buses dropped off kids in the front, parents dropped off kids in the back, so there was no confusion on where to go."
Throughout the day teachers took students on tours of the building, showing them where to go.
"Every grade has been taking them to the important land marks - the bathroom, office, library, gym and other places," Steinmetz said. "That way, they know where to go."
Kolesar said he has been impressed with the student-helpers, as well as the teachers in how they are handling the transition.
"The teachers are doing a great job, making sure students slowly, but surely, get used to the entire building," Kolesar said. "Before long, they will feel like they have been here forever. ... There were a lot of older kids helping the younger kids as they got off the bus, and that was very nice to see. A couple board members were with me, and they were pretty impressed with how things ran."
Despite the challenge, Kolesar and Steinmetz both agreed everything went off without a hitch.
"Overall things went really well," Steinmetz said. "It was a smooth transition, smoother than we thought it would be."
"On the first day, sometimes you're not sure how things are going to go," Kolesar said. "With all of these changes this year, I wasn't sure, but everything went great. I am very, very happy with how everything turned out."
