Newest Students

It’s a warm afternoon in mid-August, and I’m trailing three enthusiastic kindergartners out to the small and cozy kindergarten playground. My photographers and I examine the area and try to decipher what location is best for a photo-op, but Sierra, Faith, and Dillon don’t seem to notice our attempted attention to detail. They rush the slide and jungle gym and playfully argue over which playground is better- this one or the “big kid’s playground.” They immediately notice the large cameras my photographers are holding and decide to pose while they play, even mentioning that we should “ Get a picture of me sliding!” or simply chorusing “Cheeeeese!” in unison. These three have been kindergartners for one week exactly and seem completely adjusted and confident in their new-found titles. I settle down in the sand and prepare to ask them some questions. They climb and hang on the jungle gym while we chat. I begin with asking about their first day of school experience, were they scared, nervous, excited?

Sierra was quick to claim, “We didn’t cry at all!”

“I was never nervous at school,” adds Dillon.

“Did you know anyone on the first day?” I wonder.

“I knew her,” Faith and Sierra point at each other, “and I knew her.”

“What about you Dillon?” I prod.

He flashes a smile and says, "I didn’t know anyone until Mrs. Cooper called them up and told us their names, but after that, I knew EVERYONE.”

I can't help but smile and think to myself, if only in life it was still that easy. If we knew each other’s names we could be considered friends, but that is how it is in kindergarten, I suppose. “Do you have to take naps?” I asked.

“It’s not naps, it's rest!” Dillon reminds me.

“Oh, is that what they call it these days? Well do you like rest time?”

I am surprised with the answers I receive. “I like it!” says Sierra.

“I like it too; it makes my head feel better when I have a headache!" Faith adds.

As I am jotting down their answers, they watch me intently, and I then remember a very novel concept-they can’t read what I am writing. I turn to them and ask, “ Can you read?”

I receive a chorus of “no's” and “not yet’s”

This is such an interesting idea to me because I hardly know anyone who can’t read, and I wonder what they would like to read first once they learn how.

“I would like to read about God first,” says Dillon.

“We are all REALLY wanting to learn to read,” Faith stresses.

We continue to talk and the three are so articulate that I start to forget just how young my young companions are. I nonchalantly ask them what they look forward to in the next thirteen years. I expect answers like "learning cursive writing,” or “sports,” or “going to Evening of Elegance." The answers I receive make me laugh out loud and remind me just how innocent these new kindergartners are.

“Um, my birthday!” Faith says excitedly.

“Going to the zoo!” Sierra answers as she swings upside down from the playground equipment. “I would really like to sleep with the elephants. I love elephants! I collect them, you know."

Unfortunately, before long it is time for me to return to class and bid farewell to my new friends. As I say goodbye, I ask them all for a hug. The girls run over and give me a bear hug while Dillon is not so sure. He soon shyly comes over and gives a quick hug while the girls laugh and Faith giggles, "She got sugar and spice on you!”

My time with the kindergartners is brief, but inexplicably enjoyable, and it takes me back to a time when things were so much simpler. As I walk away from Mrs. Cooper’s class that day, I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to go to a school of kindergarten through twelfth graders. I feel that we can all learn so much from each other, and although I am leaving the school next year, I know that the school will be in extremely capable hands because the next generation of AVC students are a truly remarkable bunch.

By: Ashton Buccola, 12th grade