'You'll be okay in this school'
By Nancy Kriz
CENTRAL VALLEY — It was a first day of new beginnings this past Wednesday in the Monroe-Woodbury School District.
For teachers, it was back to the classrooms to meet their new students, with new and revised lesson plans ready to fill heads with a world of knowledge and wonder.
For students - with new sneakers, backpacks and special "Day One" school outfits - it was getting introduced to a new school routine, meeting up with old friends, cautiously introducing themselves to new ones and becoming acquainted with their teachers.
For parents, it was the introspective moment in the morning as those time-honored "first day of school" photos were snapped (most happily, some under protest), knowing this was the beginning of the next phase of their children's lives.
After today, there would be one less "first day of school" left for their kids.
It wasn't just about academics, it was about growing up.
New beginnings
And on Wednesday the new beginnings at Central Valley Elementary focused not only on events and reflections like these, but on two people who were having an extra special new day.
When they met toward the end of the day, 9-year-old Christian Taunton of Monroe and Dolores Terlecky, Central Valley's new interim principal, were happy to talk about their observations of their first day at school.
For Christian, it was his first day in a new elementary school community. Earlier this summer, his family relocated to Monroe from Staten Island.
For Terlecky, it was her first day in a new role in a new elementary school community, too. Late last week, she was appointed interim principal after serving as assistant principal at North Main Elementary in Monroe for the past seven years.
"My mom says it's quiet and she likes the school and she thinks this is a perfect place to grow up," Christian explained. "She thinks this school district is just fine for us."
As any parent would hope, Christian was happy to announce his first day was a perfect one.
"My teacher is showing me some math and I have some new friends," he proudly said. "It was great today. My favorite class is gym. The food tastes really great here. I had chicken nuggets. I like what they do in this school. This is going to help me learn more and grow."
'Coming back home'
Terlecky also felt her day was a perfect one, too.
The new interim principal began her career at this very same school 28 years ago, though it was the district's middle school at the time. With a triple certification in English, Social Studies and Spanish, she taught middle school and high school in those areas until she began to teach ELA full time in the middle school.
Terlecky - a native of Spain - was the middle school's ELA Department chair until she joined the North Main staff in 2007 as its assistant principal.
"This is like coming back home as this is the place where I started," she said.
As Terlecky asked Christian how his day went, the third-grader was equally interested in hearing her tell how she felt about her day.
"What I liked is how the children are so nice to each other," she responded to him. "I was a bit nervous today but when I saw all the kids getting off the bus and smiling and the teachers greeting them with big smiles, all my nervousness went away. That made me feel really good. It's going to be a great year."
Knowing the names and faces
Christian knew more of the kids than Terlecky did, as he spent his summer meeting friends who would be going to Central Valley with him.
Terlecky, on the other hand, knows she'll be getting to know the names and faces of students as she gets settled into her new role.
Christian offered some advice to her as they readied themselves for the afternoon bus departure.
"You'll meet the teachers and you'll see they're nice," Christian told Terlecky. "They'll get the kids to start learning. The kids are nice, too. I'm really glad to be in this school, and you'll be okay in this school, too."