Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitkan Sees Second Grade from Both Sides

By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER

Sentinel Staff Writer

Sixteen years ago, Jule Peterson was getting ready for her first day of second grade at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School.

New Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School second-grade teacher Jule Peterson reads to her students this morning on the first day of school. (Sentinel Photo)

She remembers being really nervous, she said. And that’s something she was feeling again today. The 23-year-old was having another first at Keet – this time as a teacher.

“I’m as ready as I can be,” Peterson said, while bustling around the classroom doing last minute prep before the bell. She had just learned that another student had been added to her class, and she needed to tape a name tag to a tiny desk.

“I’m going to embrace the chaos,” she said.

And while she was a little apprehensive about the first day, she was also looking forward to starting the year.

“I’m excited to learn about my students, create a classroom community and grow as a teacher as well,” Peterson said.

Peterson, who grew up in Sitka, graduated from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., in 2015. She spent eight months teaching English in Thailand before her hometown called her back.

“In college I knew I wanted to come back to Sitka and give back to the community,” she said.  “I knew teaching was the way I could get involved and make a difference as much as I could.”

She had amazing teachers in elementary school, Peterson said, and she is working alongside some of them now. Keet Principal Casey Demmert was her sixth grade P.E. teacher.

“They really made a big impact on me,” she said.

She’s hoping she can do the same for her pupils. 

For the past week, Peterson has  been at school studying up on the new National Geographic curriculum to teach reading and writing; completing professional development training; and doing other mental preparations. 

“All my friends were telling me, ‘Jule, you’ve got to have your first- day outfit picked out,’” she said. “But that was definitely the last thing on my mind.”

Around 7:55 a.m. today, she headed out to the playground to greet her students – 17 in all. Elliott Galanin, 7, ran up. She gave him a high five.

“Are you excited?” she asked.

Elliott, toting a BB-8 backpack, said he was feeling “a little scared,” but mostly looking forward to class field trips.

Her other students were feeling nervous, too. The second-graders are in a new school this year, having graduated from Baranof Elementary after first-grade.

Once they were all lined up, Peterson led them to their new classroom. She was all smiles as they began the day.

“Good morning second graders,” she said. “Did you find your coat hook? Did you take your lunch box out of your backpack?”

As she took attendance her students settled in, unloading their shiny backpacks and putting fresh colored pencils in their desks. 

Chatham Newton, 7, showed off his new lunch box. 

“I ordered it on my huge Samsung iPad,” he said. “I think it came all the way from China. It looked really cool and it’s my favorite color – black.”

He said he was worried at first about coming to a new school, but once he arrived he felt better.

“I thought no one would be my friend but I noticed my first-grade friend was here,” Chatham said.

The transition from Baranof Elementary School to Keet Gooshi Heen is a big one for the second-graders, Principal Demmert said.

The new building and new faces can be overwhelming. Jeanine Brooks, the counselor at Baranof, always comes over on the first day to see the kids on the playground before school and ease any fears, he said.

“The first day of school is one of my favorite days because of the excitement,” Demmert said. “The kids are excited and the teachers are excited.”

As the morning went on, the nerves that Peterson or her kids had seemed to dissipate. 

“When I say, ‘class, class,’ you’re going to say, ‘yes, yes,” she told them.

“Class, class,” she said in a low voice. The students responded in turn. She had their full attention.

“I’m so excited that you’re going to be in my class,” Peterson said.