There’s something about a new school year

There is just something about the beginning of a new school year.

Maybe it is the freshly-decorated classrooms and brand-new school supplies. Maybe it is seeing students walk through the doors on that first morning, some genuinely excited to be back and others doing their very best to convince us they aren’t. Maybe it is hearing the hallways come alive again after being way too quiet all summer. Or maybe it is watching our seniors suddenly realize that the year they have been waiting for is actually here. Last first day of school. Senior pictures. Senior Sunrise. First assembly. Check. Check. Check.

And just like that, we are already a few weeks into another school year.

I have been a principal for a long time, and I still love the beginning of school. There is an energy and a sense of possibility that comes with it. Everyone gets to start over a little bit. New classes. New teachers. New friendships. New opportunities. For our freshmen, it is the beginning of their BCHS story. For our seniors, it is the beginning of a year filled with lasts. And somewhere in between all of that, a school starts to become a community again. That has been my favorite part of these first few weeks.

Our classrooms are busy. Fall sports are underway. Students are filling the quad at lunch, cheering for one another at games, dressing up for Spirit Week and finding their place at BCHS. This past Friday felt like all of those things coming together at once. We packed the gym for our first assembly of the year, and it was loud, a little chaotic and a whole lot of fun. There is nothing quite like looking across a gym filled with Eagles dressed in class colors, cheering at the top of their lungs, and thinking, Yep. We’re back.

And then came Friday night. Our student section traded their class colors for teal as our school came together to raise awareness for Batten disease and support four-year-old Grayson Armstrong and his family. Grayson became an honorary Eagle that night. He walked onto the field behind our football players, fist-bumped players along the sideline, joined the captains for the coin toss and was recognized by players from both teams.

But my favorite moment came after the game. Following a 21-0 Eagle win, our players gathered together to sing the fight song. And right there in the middle of them was Grayson, lifted high into the air by his new teammates. I stood there watching and thought, “This is what a school is supposed to be.” Yes, we want our students to earn great grades. We want them to win championships, perform beautifully, take challenging classes and leave us prepared for whatever comes next. But we also want them to become people who notice others. People who show up. People who understand that sometimes the most important thing you can do is make someone else feel like they belong.

Friday night, our kids did exactly that. Maybe that is why I love the beginning of a school year so much. We never really know all the stories that will unfold between August and May. We just know that we get to experience them together. We are only a few weeks in, and there is a whole lot of school year still ahead of us. But so far? It feels like the beginning of something pretty special. And I can’t wait to see where this year takes us.

School is officially in session. And it feels really good to be an Eagle.