Back To School

As Hailey and Chelsey Alder ran out the back door of the Shepherd's Staff center in Westminster, they carried new backpacks filled with school supplies. Alongside their mother, Jaymi Bryant, 23, of Union Bridge, the girls entered a large shed and searched through hundreds of pieces of clothing for the four outfits each child could take home for free. Hailey, who is almost 6, and Chelsey, 5, are getting ready to start first grade and kindergarten, respectively, at Elmer A. Wolfe Elementary in Union Bridge.

Troy Todd has spent the summer moving, only to come right back where he started. The 36-year-old principal at Running Brook Elementary is a familiar face to students and staff. He spent the past three years there as a respected, dynamic assistant principal. It was hard for him to leave the school when he was transferred to Waterloo Elementary as an assistant principal at the beginning of the summer. But a series of transfers and promotions within the school system created an opening at his beloved Running Brook, which resulted in his returning to the school just as he had virtually completed the transition to his new assignment.

Shortly after 6 p.m., parents began trickling into the Homestead/Wakefield Elementary School in Bel Air. Principal Dale Hunsinger and Assistant Principal Eric Laughlin greeted them at the door. A few feet away, a line formed for parents who were asking parent volunteers Lisa Roberts and Kaelyn Lamas about volunteer opportunities. In the classrooms, teachers prepared packets of information, writing notes on chalkboards and preparing overhead projections for the visiting parents. It was back-to-school night, an annual ritual at Homestead/Wakefield that will be repeated at all 51 county schools.

After 4-year-old twins Paige and Lindsay Hockensmith watched their older sister Makenzie board the bus to start third grade at West Friendship Elementary School, they decided they wanted to learn, too. So their mother, Denise Hockensmith, took them to Learning How, a school-supply store in Columbia, for some materials that would help them with their letters and math. "We're having fun," Hockensmith said, looking at a boxed kit that helps kids with patterns. "There's a lot of good stuff here."

The mother carefully walks her daughter up the school stairs and then points to the left. "Look, it's right there," Mary Holtzner says, motioning to daughter Brittany's new classroom. "How easy is that?" As school starts up again, the Opening Day jitters are back. Nervous schoolchildren wonder whether they'll find their classroom, like their teacher and know some of their classmates. Parents can't help but worry themselves. To ease the concerns, many Baltimore-area schools are increasingly turning to a novel approach: opening their doors early, so the anxious can find their way around, put a face to their teachers' names and see who else will be in their classes.

They took math tests, looked for worthy lunchroom spots, stuffed books into shiny, new backpacks and found their way down unfamiliar corridors into unfamiliar classrooms. The school bell rang, and it was back to school last week for hundreds of young Hurricane Katrina evacuees who had turned, overnight, into the new kids in class when they enrolled in private and public schools across Maryland. It was also a return to some semblance of normality, though normal is still a remote notion for students who have fled flooded communities and don't know when they'll see their old friends or how, exactly, to navigate the social and academic terrain in their new schools.

With excitement or mere resignation, Carroll County students - and their parents - have been gearing up for the 2007-2008 school year, which starts tomorrow. During this past week, and in weeks to come, the school system's elementary, middle and high schools opened their doors and welcomed the familiar sounds of footsteps, shouts and ceaseless chatter into their halls. Students bought school-themed clothing, picked up schedules and planners and learned their new routines for the next several months.

Keeping his clothing store healthy for 38 back-to-school seasons has required Gilbert Cohen to have the acumen of a cultural anthropologist as much as an accountant.Cohen studies the trends in families and puts his finger on what's changed: it's the youngsters, not the parents, who are making the decisions about clothes."Kids today are not going to wear it if they don't like it," he said. That makes parents more reluctant than they used to be to buy all the clothes in one August spree. "Twenty years ago, they didn't have the nerve to open their mouth because they would find their father's foot in it."

The day after New Year's is typically one of the quietest at most schools, with teachers and students savoring their last few moments of winter vacation before returning to class.But at Edgemere Elementary School yesterday, it looked as though winter vacation had ended long ago.Teachers rushed to put up bulletin boards and organized shelves of textbooks. Contractors installed bookcases and set up computers.Custodians polished the floors and carried away empty furniture boxes.And amid all the activity, Principal Linda Stanton promised that everything needed for instruction would be ready Monday morning -- when Edgemere Elementary's building opens to its 391 students for the first time.

Dude: Think you're a pretty rad skater? Well, show off your stuff at the "Back to School Skateboard Contest" Saturday at Carroll Skateboard Park. Judges will separate the real skaters from the posers and will choose the best in the categories of beginner, intermediate and advanced. The event will also feature various skateboarding demonstrations, giveaways and prizes. The contest is open to skaters ages 7 and up. So work on your ollie and get airborne. The "Back to School Skateboard Contest" takes place Saturday at Carroll Skateboard Park, 1500 Washington Blvd.