Students get special welcome on first day of school
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After a summer marred by wildland fires and the evacuations of thousands of Lake County residents, the county’s children are now getting back to school.
Konocti Unified and Middletown Unified started classes on Monday and Kelseyville Unified will start on Sept. 4.
On Wednesday, it was back to school for Lakeport Unified, Lucerne Elementary and Upper Lake Unified, which earlier this month reported that they had chosen to delay classes by a week due to the Mendocino Complex.
The River portion of which caused the mandatory evacuation of the entire city of Lakeport and surrounding areas, while the Ranch fire chased thousands of Northshore residents from their homes.
The smoke and ash from the fires has necessitated cleaning and ongoing air monitoring at districts, where the goal is to keep students in the healthiest conditions possible.
State Sen. Mike McGuire has partnered with North Coast Opportunities and Redwood Credit Union to create the Lake County Students Fire Relief Fund.
McGuire and his partners organized a welcome back to school event in cooperation with the districts on Wednesday for students in Lakeport, Lucerne and Upper Lake.
In Lakeport and Upper Lake, donuts, milk and orange juice were served to students on Wednesday morning, with law enforcement and firefighters, along with community volunteers and teachers waiting to greet them.
Lakeport Unified Superintendent April Leiferman said the first day of school was great.
“The students at Lakeport Elementary were welcomed by Rory the Tiger, school board members, first responders, city officials, Rotary members, community members and other volunteers. There were ‘Welcome Back’ signs, high-fives and hugs at the elementary school,” she said.
Leiferman said Clear Lake High School students had their first glimpse of the new central kitchen and all students were treated to delicious donuts provided by Susie Q's donuts, juice and milk.
“The students were all smiles with their new shoes and backpacks. They were happy to be at school, see their friends, and meet their teachers and other staff members. The classrooms were buzzing with enthusiasm through the end of the day,” she said.
Leiferman added that the air quality was not in the unhealthy for sensitive groups zone Wednesday morning, “which was a relief.”
She recognized McGuire, NCO, Redwood Credit Union, volunteers and staff for their contributions to the day.
Smiles all around
Dr. Giovanni Annous, superintendent of Upper Lake Unified School District, said everything went off without a hitch, and the most important thing was seeing the smiles on the children’s faces.
There were people on hand to welcome students to five different school locations on Wednesday morning in Upper Lake, he said. Representatives from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, Northshore Fire Protection District, school board members as well as Supervisor Jim Steele and Supervisor-elect E.J. Crandell were on hand at the various campuses.
Annous said donuts were served at the campuses as school got under way, and he thanked McGuire and his staff for making the morning welcome event as successful as it was.
“You could tell the kids were so happy to come back,” he said, noting that parents had told him children were looking forward to classes starting.
He said that shows the resilience of the children.
Annous offered his gratitude to teachers and staff for their efforts to bring things back to normal as quickly as possible for their students as the new school year started.
Ahead of the start of school, all of the district’s school facilities were thoroughly cleaned, said Annous. The Ranch fire did not damage any of the facilities.
Annous said air scrubbers remain at work in school facilities to keep air quality high, as smoky air across the community remains a problem. He said the scrubbers are going to be kept in place until Lake County air quality returns to good or moderate status.
In addition to the cleanup, Annous said the district finished up some modernization projects – which were delayed by the area’s mandatory evacuation – just before school started.
The projects included painting the entire elementary school and remodeling the inside of the elementary school’s multipurpose room. He said painting at the middle school is still under way, with the gym left to paint.
Even with the delays, Annous said everything came together perfectly. He credited his maintenance and facilities personnel for their work. “These guys have been working hard around the clock,” he said. “They pulled it together perfectly. They are amazing.”
He added, “We’re a very resilient community.”
A good first day
Later on Wednesday morning, the welcome effort moved to Lucerne Elementary School.
Principal-Superintendent Mike Brown, walking across the playground to the cafeteria, said it was a good first day.
He said they had more students than anticipated, explaining that, after the evacuations, he hadn’t been sure if some families would return.
In the school’s cafeteria, dozens of youngsters enjoyed a pasta lunch from Park Place in Lakeport, along with salad and fruit, and a big cookie once lunch was over and it was time to head out to recess.
They also got high fives from firefighters from Northshore Fire Protection District. One of the firefighters also helped one young man straighten his tie when it got stuck on his lunch tray.
McGuire’s office said all funds raised will benefit Lake County students – from kindergarten through college – and will include financial assistance for students who lost homes to replace school clothes, supplies, sports and musical equipment. Funds also will be invested in mental health services for Lake County students impacted by the fires.
Contributions to support Lake County students may be made online at www.FireRelief.org or checks can be mailed to Lake County Students Fire Relief Fund , Memo line: North Coast Opportunities Inc., 413 North State St., Ukiah CA, 95482.
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