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On the second-to-last day of school, Katie Gulewich’s kindergarteners at Holt Elementary in Eugene diligently colored their “1st Grade Here I Come” crowns.
They had made it through their first year of school and were eager to tell the tale.
Nine months after Lookout Eugene-Springfield interviewed Holt Elementary kindergarteners on their first day of school, some of them posed for another portrait and shared their last-week-of-school excitement and upcoming summer plans.
Milian, 6, liked learning math. She learned that two plus two equals four. Esperanza, 6, enjoyed reading. Her favorite books were the “Pete the Cat” series. Vivian, 6, loved music class, especially when they got to play ukuleles.
And there was much to look forward to next year: new teachers, new things to learn and more time to play with friends. When asked whether she was feeling scared or excited about first grade, Vivian’s enthusiasm required a double adverb: “I’m really so excited.”
Earlier that day, June 11, the whole grade walked to a neighborhood park to celebrate the end of the year. Students played on the playground and outlined each other’s bodies in chalk on the basketball court, which, in Milian’s words, “kind of looks like you’re dead.”
The park was no larger than a few houselots wide, but the excursion proved that anything novel is fun in kindergarten.
Gulewich has taught for seven years and been a kindergarten teacher for six. Kindergarten is when students learn how to be in a classroom together, she said.
“Every year, my favorite thing about kindergarten is just watching them grow and spread their wings, become a community, settle into the routine — because they start from so many different places, academically, socially, emotionally,” Gulewich said.
For a few years after COVID, her students often struggled with problem-solving fundamentals: sharing, working in groups, being kind and listening to each other. But this year, despite her students being born just before or just after the world shut down, her students were more socially acclimated.
Many were able to attend daycare, preschool and activities like swimming lessons — all activities that help build social skills — before coming to school.
“This is a typical kindergarten class; we’re working on pretty typical kindergarten things,” and Gulewich meant that as praise.
The most important lesson she teaches every year to her students is pinned to the top of her white board on two signs. One reads “Just try” and the other reads “Perfect” crossed out with a red X. Though they are small, the kindergartners still have a tendency for perfectionism, and Gulewich is on a quest to help them conquer it.
At school pickup that afternoon, Josh Kramer was there to pick up Blaze, 6.
He and his wife, Samara, were not worried about Blaze’s ability to socialize when they sent him off for his first day of kindergarten. What they were less prepared for was how their social butterfly son would bring home words, ideas and stories from other classmates’ homes that his parents had to address. Despite the challenge, Kramer said he was proud of Blaze for his ability to make friends.
“It was just so cool coming to nonschool activities and hearing all of the kids say, ‘Hey Blaze,’ ‘Hey Blaze,’” Kramer said. “He was just really good with all the other kids.”
Savannah Pipkin-Litster was also at school on the second-to-last day, picking up her son Simon. In contrast to the Kramers, Pipkin-Litster was nervous sending Simon off to kindergarten because of his anxiety around other children.
“He wouldn’t go to birthday parties, even if he wanted to,” she said.
However, Simon immediately bonded with his teachers and support staff, and while he still has big emotions sometimes, he excelled this year socially.
On the adult side of things, Pipkin-Litster and her husband experienced firsthand the realities of Eugene School District 4J’s budget cuts. More and more volunteer work is falling on parents to fill the gaps, said Pipkin-Litster, including the school’s food pantry, which her husband now organizes.
“It’s crazy that we were living in a time, in a system where we’re having to scramble to feed kids,” she said.
Pipkin-Litster said the school has been a rich source of social connection after the family moved to Oregon from New Mexico this year, but it’s been disheartening to see the limits of funding.
“We feel really committed to the public system, like you’ve got to stay so that it can keep thriving, not just surviving, but I get why parents leave the public system,” she said. “That’s been a part of the reality of this year — learning what’s missing and how we’re filling in the gaps.”
