First Day of School
By Pola Rosen, Ed.D.

Remember the jingle, “School days, school days, dear old golden rule days?, Reading and writing and ‘rithmetic, Taught to the tune of the hickory stick…” The lyricists, Will D. Cobb and Gus Edwards obviously were referring to what school would hold in store for them in 1907.
What do students think about today in 2003 as they approach the school steps? We interviewed students of all ages around the nation from kindergarten entrants to college freshmen. Here are some of the wonderful responses.

Olivia Frances, Kindergarten,
Coronado, California
“ I’m excited about playing with toys, about
playing with puzzles and about playing with
blocks. They will teach me to read. I will learn
to write. I will have lunch in school. I think I
will play house in Kindergarten. I like to dress
up. A new sport for me is soccer.”

Alexandra Kukoff: Kindergarten,
Thousand Oaks, California
“ I want to learn to write my letters. I want to
write my name and write stories. I want to play
with stuff. And that’s it!”

Zachary Kukoff, Grade 3,
Thousand Oaks, California
I’m excited about getting a good teacher and
about seeing old friends again. I am looking
forward to English, drama class and the end of
the year rally. Last year I won a fish at the contest.
I loved my 2nd grade class play; I was one
of the stars.”

Tyler Frances, 2nd grade,
Coronado,California
I’m excited about making new friends. I’m
excited about learning new things: about math,
astronomy, geography and history, too. One of
my friends is starting with me. In the first grade
I read stories to myself. I liked playing soccer
for the past two years.

Entering College Freshmen:
Question: What are you looking most forward to upon entering college?

Alexander Danielides,
Duke University
“ That is such a deep question because there
is such a list of things that I am looking forward
to. One is the change of having parents
around all the time to having your own freedom.
Not to say that I don’t want my parents
around, but that things will be different.
Another thing I am looking forward to is cultivating
my own individuality. When I go to college,
there will be vast opportunities of choices
of education. I can take classes from philosophy
to economics. Lastly, I am looking
forward to see how much I can do and how far
I can reach.”

Lindsay Montanarella,
Appalachian College

“ Cooking my meals on my own, getting
involved in different organizations, and receiving
a broader variety of class choices are things
I’m excited about.”

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Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 1588, New York, NY 10159.
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