Moraine Elementary prepares for back to school
PROSPECT — With just a few days left until the first day of classes, Moraine Elementary School is welcoming students and their parents back from summer break.
The school’s first Back to School Blast Off on Thursday, Aug. 15, connected families with teachers, as well as students with their classmates.
Leading to various craft stations and bounce houses, students and parents could peruse clothing donated from the district’s Rocket Closet and free school supplies donated from the nearby Dollar General.
Varsity cheerleaders from Slippery Rock Area High School were on hand to perform routines.
As Kinsley McCandless, 6, ate a blue ice pop, she said she was keen to start kindergarten.
With kindergarten orientation taking place just a few hours earlier, Kinsley has already made friends, she said.
Most of all, she said she was looking forward to riding the bus.
The sentiment was shared by soon-to-be kindergartner Cayden Evans, 5, who attended the event with his older brother Grayson, 8.
“He is ridiculously excited,” his mother, Jessica Evans, said. “He’s like, ‘I get to go to school with big brother.’”
“He’s like, ‘Can I ride the bus?’” Evans said. “He’s so excited to ride the bus.”
Going into third grade, Grayson will show his little brother the ropes.
“He’s excited about it too,” Evans said. He’s like, ‘I got to show (Cayden) where the lunch room is.’ He’s excited to show him his school.”
Evans said the family moved to Butler County from Missouri. They live near Moraine State Park, she said. The get-together at school has sparked excitement in both her sons, she said.
“It tugs on the heartstrings, for sure,” Evans said about her youngest starting school.
As Nathan and Julie Burtner, of Prospect, watched their daughter playing on an inflatable slide, they said attending the back-to-school event was an opportunity to make connections in the community and relieve some anxiety about Evelyn, 5, starting kindergarten.
“Julie’s pretty heartbroken that she’s growing up,” Nathan Burtner said.
Rachael Sinibaldi, of Slippery Rock, said the back-to-school event brought back memories from her time as a student at Moraine Elementary School. As her son, Landon Gutauskas, 8, and daughter Delilah Gutauskas, 6, got to see familiar faces and educators they had last year, Sinibaldi said she also ran into Mrs. Baughman, a former teacher of hers.
“I knew when (Landon) had her last year for science I was tickled pink because I absolutely loved her as a teacher,” Sinibaldi said. “She was a good inspiration.”
“I used to ride the school bus,” Sinibaldi said, reflecting on school days of the past as she watched her children. “I was the first one on, first one off.”
