Bower Elementary Educators Host Annual Supply Night

Bower teachers and staff welcomed students to another school year on August 19th. A few days before school began, however, Bower’s youngest students, those entering kindergarten and first grade, were warmly welcomed to the new year at the school’s annual K and 1 Supply Night. Supply Night began with kindergarten classes in the early 1990’s. Several years later, first grade teachers volunteered to join the kindergarten team in offering their students the opportunity to bring all of their school supplies to their classrooms before the first day of school. Supply Night gives students a chance to meet their new teacher, see their classroom, and since the evening is well attended by students with their parents, a chance for students to meet their new classmates as well. While this evening helps to lighten the load of the backpack on the first day of school, more importantly, Supply Night helps to ease some of those first day jitters.

Starting in early August, this year’s Kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Michele Foster and Mrs. Vickie Petmezas, and first grade teachers, Mrs. Amy Goeb, Mrs. Melissa Lamkin, and Mrs. Nicole Zace, worked on preparing their classrooms to welcome new students at Supply Night. Teachers made name tags for students to label their lockers, classroom doors, and mailboxes, and created places to sit to help students feel welcome in their new learning environment. They spent many hours decorating classroom walls and hallways in a rainbow of colors and shapes. They posted math vocabulary, reading skills, ABCs, and numbers galore! All five teachers made special cozy areas in their classrooms for students to have the opportunity to pick books to read from their large classroom libraries - libraries built over the years to give students a wide variety of books to choose from based on their reading levels and interests. The efforts made by kindergarten and first grade teachers in preparation for this special night every year is evident to every student and parent in attendance.

Students receive an invitation in the mail to Supply Night from the kindergarten and first grade teams about a week before the scheduled date. This year’s Supply Night was held on August 17th. When students arrive to their new classroom, they have the opportunity to explore the room with their parents while sorting all of their school supplies. Our educators always volunteer to hold this event in the evening so that working parents are also able to attend with their child. Students love having parents in their new classrooms to help them find their seat and learn where they will hang their backpack and coat. Having mom and dad at Bower to find their new classroom in such a big school and meet their new teacher for the first time eases much of the anxiety or excitement that many young children feel about school starting. At the end of the visit, educators read a story to the students or snap a family photo as a keepsake before the visit is over.

This year’s Supply Night was well attended with approximately 110 kindergarten and first grade families visiting Bower to meet their teacher. Thank you to the kindergarten and first grade educators for taking the time outside of their regular school day hours to make new students and their families feel welcome before the first bell of the 2015-16 school year even rang!