Page 11 - Sanger Herald 8-23-18 E-edition

Lifestyles
SANGER HERALD • 3B • THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2018
Sanger Unified returns to class with good cheer
Sanger
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Alyssa Ruiz, a fourth- grader, high-fived her new principal, Renae Cowings, soon after she arrived at Lone Star Elementary about 7:30 a.m. Aug. 16.
They had made a pact that neither would be nervous or experience jitters on the first day of school. And, in fact, both were all business. Alyssa, a cheerleader in her Lone Star Eagle-blue uniform, and Cowings, shaking hands and greeting all who passed the front entry, acted the consummate professionals.
More than 12,000 students returned to class in the Sanger Unified School District along with Alyssa and those at Lone Star. Teachers prepared for days and weeks beforehand to make their classrooms just so, fine tuned their schedules and prepared curriculum. Throughout Sanger, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other classified employees made sure that first day went off without a hitch.
Alyssa’s fellow cheerleaders stood at either side of Lone Star’s front gate, engaging all who entered. The 1958 vintage school is off Fowler Avenue just south of Jensen Avenue, surrounded by farm fields. For some, like Gabriel Castillo, their first ever day of school proved pretty formidable.
Gabriel presented a stoic expression as he met Cowings and the greeting party, but his mom said he felt “good, excited.” From his eye level the cheerleaders looked very tall.
Abigail Aller, a sixth- grade cheerleader, said hello to many incoming students by name. She said she remembered her first day of school as a kindergartener. “It was a good day, but I was scared at first,” she said.
And now?
“Yeah,” she said. “No.” Not scared. Not even a
little bit. Abigail chastised herself when she couldn’t remember the name of a classmate’s younger brother. She said she had known this classmate since kindergarten.
Sixth-graders Johnny Archuleta and Vincent Thao also greeted new students along with other members of the student council. They wore T-shirts identifying their positions. “Pretty cool,” Johnny said about the first day of school.
“It’s good to finally see your friends,” Vincent said. Neither recalled their
Trusting in God Even When I Don’t Feel Like It
The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 62:8 to “Trust in God at all times, my people. Tell Him all your troubles, for He is our refuge.”
Trust is not an emotion that you can just conjure up or expect to always be there when you are feeling low. You do not have to feel like trusting in order to trust. Jesus talked to his first followers about this the night before he died.
He knew the next day he
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Renae Cowings, principal of Lone Star Elementary School, greets a student on the first day of school on Aug. 16. Sanger has more than 12,000 students. Second-graders, right, ask Meghan Ward questions about favorite animals.
first day of school as a brand new kindergartner.
Then class was about to start. The final students to arrive hurried through the gate. Teacher and cheer coach Meghan Ward gathered her cheerleaders, had them put their pom poms in a couple plastic storage bins and then sent the girls to class.
“Teachers do have nerves on the first day,” said Ward, who started her seventh year teaching. “But we’re more nervous-excited.”
Back behind Lone Star in the playground, the younger students lined up. None of them said a word and waited patiently for their teachers’ OK before filing one after another into their respective classrooms.
Many of them had fresh haircuts or braids. Nothing was out of place. Backpacks looked new and clean and their shoes appeared to have been recently in a box. Most looked serious. Ward’s smile and words of encouragement put her students at ease.
“Into our new classroom,” Ward said. “Our journey to second grade.”
And that journey began immediately. Ward mentioned the “jitter
was going to be hanging on a cross and that his followers would feel like everything had been lost. Jesus talked to them about the difference between trust and feeling, action and feeling.
John 14:1 says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me.”
There are a lot things cause our hearts to be troubled, anxious and distressed. You need to realize that whatever the circumstances you’re going through right now, whatever the feelings in
juice” she had ready for those still tentative about being newly minted second- graders. She instructed them to put lunch boxes under their desks and then asked a question that would set up their first official assignment.
“How many of you know what an emoji is?” she asked.
Nearly every hand shot up as familiarity with the cartoon-like symbols resonated. She handed out blank pieces of paper and had them write their names across the top. “You are going to draw an emoji that shows how you are feeling right now,” she said. “And I’m going to take attendance while you’re doing it.”
She told her students they could draw emojis as big or little as they preferred. Most drew a version of the proverbial smiley face. A boy who quickly emerged as a talkative but polite sort immediately drew a circle with two dots for eyes and a horizontal line for a mouth. Ward picked it up and showed the others as his was one of the first to be completed.
Another student drew a smiley face with vertical lines for eyes. Several girls
seized upon a theme and drew red hearts for eyes in full color crayon.
One boy drew a tiny circle with a smile and a pair of perfect sunglasses. He exhibited the talent of a seasoned graphic artist.
Then the talkative one raised his hand. Ward invited him to speak. “I’m still getting used to it,” he said.
“Used to what?” Ward asked.
“Second grade,” he said.
“And it’s only been six minutes,” she said, even though maybe a little more than that had passed.
Next came a discussion about how Ward planned to get her class’s attention. “I’ll do one of three things,” she said. First was: “Let me
have your eyes and ears.” Second involved Ward ringing her bell twice and students following that with two claps. The third was: “I say, ‘Put you hands on top (of your head),’ and you say, ‘And then you stop.’”
Then Ward told her students about herself — she’s married and has two dogs, loves pandas and spent 13 years in gymnastics. Once she finished showing them photos on a large screen, she asked about their favorite animals. Every one of them had something to say.
Ward executed like a pro, keeping everybody on task and moving from one topic to the next. She explained the schedule and that music
Once you do, his love will never leave you. God loves you no matter what. So, set your mind on what will really last. Colossians 3:1 states it plainly, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”
So, you set your mind on what’s really real. We focus our attention on what seems real to us is the present circumstances. But what is truly real is the eternity that God has planned for us.
Let me encourage
was Mondays and PE on Tuesdays and Fridays (“So wear tennis shoes on those days.” She also had them tell their neighbor one thing about themselves, using a technique common in corporate retreats. She spoke to them about how they’re expected to be leaders amongst the younger children in first and kindergarten.
“If you see anyone without a friend, what can you do?” she asked. “You can be their friend.”
Then Principal Cowings entered the classroom. “I’m so excited to see each of your faces today,” she said. And then she reiterated what Ward had just talked
See School, Page 2B
you if you are at a place where trust is illusive to remember that trust is not just an emotion, remember God’s immense love for you and set your mind on eternal things not just the here and now.
Pastor Sam Estes is city advance director and facilitates the Sanger Community Task Force that meets the first and third Tuesdays every month. He can be reached at pastorsam51@gmail.com.
PASTOR’S CORNER
your life, God loves you.
they’ve gotten themselves into such a mess and they’ve got to get themselves out of the mess until they can trust God again. In fact, you might feel far from God, feel far from
Ephesians 3:17-
18 states it this
way, “I pray that
Christ will be more
and more at home
in your hearts as
you trust in Him.
May your roots go
down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand as all God’s people should how wide, how long, how high and how deep His love really is.”
I know some people honestly feel ashamed to trust God. They feel like
Pastor Sam Estes
his love.
The truth is he loves you
no matter what. He won’t force his love upon you. And you may not have chosen to allow his love in your life. But the truth is he loves you even now. He wants you to open your heart to him.