Students head back to class

It’s a day parents around the area have been looking forward to since late May.OK, maybe that’s a stretch — maybe it’s just been the last few weeks — but the bottom line is that parents today [Tuesday] aren’t hearing “I’m bored” and “there’s nothing to do.”That’s because most of our kids skipped — although maybe some of them trudged — off to school today to kick off the 2016-17 school year.“I think most kids are ready,” New Hampton Superintendent Jay Jurrens said and added with a laugh, “although a lot of them — especially the high school students — aren’t going to come right out and say it.”New Hampton welcomed back its new teachers on Wednesday while the entire teaching staff took part in workshops and meetings Thursday, Friday and Monday.But the reality in school systems across the state is that Aug. 1 in many ways signifies the beginning of a new school year.Numerous fall sports camps began that day, as did other extracurricular activities like New Hampton’s annual Band Camp.Meanwhile teachers began filing into school buildings all around the county.“We’ve had so many teachers in the buildings the last couple of weeks,” Jurrens said. “They want to make sure their classrooms are ready so they can hit the ground running.”For the complete story see the 8/23/2016 New Hampton Tribune.