SAN LUIS — Over 4,800 students went back to school last Wednesday, the first day of classes for all eight schools and preschool at Gadsden Elementary School District #32.
Since Ed Pastor Elementary School is continuing to ride the high of being named a 2024 National Distinguished School—one of two in the state of Arizona—earlier this year, KAWC visited the school to see what families had to say about the first day.
Family Sentiments
Brenda Silva (mother to a fourth grader)
Feeling: “I'm excited but nervous at the same time. I mean, it's a new school year [which] always brings a lot of emotions, but excited for what's coming for him. His goals will be met, and he'll have a successful year … Every year it's the same. We think he's not going to cry and then he gets all emotional.”
Danny Silva (father to a fourth grader)
How was the son feeling? “He was excited, both excited and nervous I would say. You would see in his face at moments where he's like, ‘Yes, yes, I'm ready!’ and then it would kind of, you know, come to the realization like, ‘Oh, I'm going to school right now’ so, you know, the emotional part will come out. But overall, he was excited.”
Jose Juarez (father to a first grader)
Hopes for the year: “I want him to get more involved academically. The previous school that he went to, it was in Sun Valley, it wasn't–they didn't have as much as the programs that they do here. So I'm really looking forward to that.”
Alex Juarez (first grader, Jose’s son)
Feeling: “Uhhh, little bit shy.”
Looking forward to: “I have some, like, friends of my soccer and I have people who come here.”
Francisca Aro (great-grandmother or ‘bisabuelita’ to a kindergartener)
Feeling: “Ay, pues contenta ya porque traje a mi niño.” / (“Content because I’ve brought my boy now”)
How was the great-grandson feeling? “Ah, se quedó triste. Sí, se quedó triste y le dije, ‘Mira, vas a hacer amiguitos y todo, mijo. Va estar todo bien.’” / (“Ah, he stayed sad. Yes, he stayed sad and I told him, ‘Look, you’re going to make little friends and everything, my son. Everything’s going to be fine.’”)
Julio Sandoval (father to a kindergartener)
Feeling: “Ah, pues me siento feliz, pero un poco nervioso y, pues, un poquito así como triste, porque, pues no, no sé qué onda con mi hijo. No, no, pero bien, bien, feliz. Ya está bien grande y feliz.” / (“Ah, well I feel happy but a little nervous and, well, a little sad because I don’t know what’s up with my son. No, no, but very, very happy. He’s already very grown and happy.”)
How was the son feeling? “Sí, no, él ya quería ir. Ya está, ya está listo, ya se cree niño grande, aunque apenas va en el kínder, pero, pero muy, muy bien, muy motivado él –digo, muy feliz. Se levantó y va para la escuela kínder y ya listo, está muy listo.” / (“Yeah, no, he already wanted to go. He’s already ready, he already thinks himself a big kid even though he’s barely going to kinder. But very, very good, very motivated. I mean, very happy. He got up and went to school for kinder and he’s ready, he’s very ready.”)
A Chat with the Principal
After the morning calmed down a bit, Principal Maritza Mares sat down with KAWC in her office to share what she and the staff were feeling.
“I've been an educator for over 20 years and every first day of school, I still feel those first day jitters, but it's very exciting,” she said. “We did have our welcome back breakfast yesterday [Tuesday, Aug. 5] with our staff and the energy, the enthusiasm, very positive … It really makes me feel very happy and excited for what’s to come ahead.”
When asked about what she’s looking forward to, she explained there’s a lot going on since Ed Pastor Elementary is known for involving its students in quit a few extracurricular activities and celebrations.
“We were selected back in November as a National Distinguished School, the only one in our district ever since our district has been a district, and, we're very, very proud of that,” she said. “We're the only National Distinguished School in the county as well so, I mean, of course, that weight feels heavy on our shoulders right now because we need to make sure that we continue to provide that excellent education, not only academically, but bringing those extracurricular, activities so that we can continue to involve our students in a different type of critical thinking and preparing them for the real world.”
She noted there will be robotics and they’re continuing Odyssey of the Mind, for which their team made it to the world competition last year. There’s also student council, modern dance and folkloric dance.
“We have a big music program where the kids have access to a variety of things such as norteño, mariachi, beginning band, modern dance, folkloric,” she said. “So we're very excited to continue promoting that, and, I don't know, exploring new ideas and bringing new initiatives to continue to have our students feel happy and safe and comfortable at our school.”
This reporting is supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation.
