Summer ends, a new year begins

Summer. For kids in high school, summer means kicking back for a while and enjoying some well deserved time in the sun. But summer eventually has to come to an end, and with it brings the start of a new school year. For a lot of people attending Gridley High School, that first Monday seemed like it came around way too soon.

When we walked on campus that morning, all around were people catching up with friends they haven't seen in a while and the new freshman, in their own groups of friends, looking a little nervous but still excited. For juniors, like me, and seniors, the morning simply marked the beginning of the cycle we have gotten really used to these last few years.

As is tradition, the first day at GHS is marked with the kickoff rally that is usually held in the Bone Yard. However, this year was different. Everybody gathered in the small field in front of the concrete stage behind the main building of the school. There, we were entertained by Mr. Hardy's band. Mr. Hardy is one of our English teachers.

"It was great playing on the first day for all the students. I really enjoyed it," Hardy said. We were also entertained and somewhat amused as we heard Coach Cooprider sing.

"I thought it was amazing. I've never seen a school do a rally like that before, and it was really cool," said Ms. Goularte, who is a new teacher at GHS this semester.

As the rally came to a close, everybody gathered in front of the school to witness the ribbon being cut on the entrance to the main hallway, another little tradition of ours. As soon as the ribbon came down, students started cramming into the main hall. As we walked down the hall, teachers lined the sides, waiting to slap high-fives and say "Hi."

Occasionally, we would see a bright flash out of the corner of our eyes as Mr. Allard, the technology, photography, yearbook and multimedia teacher, snapped pictures of students to put into the yearbook. After that, everyone just went to class like any other day — but with higher spirits than they arrived with and a memory to carry with them always.

With the start school also comes the start of sports. Volleyball, football, tennis, swimming and cross country have already been practicing for weeks, if not months. This first week of school also saw the first home football game. The varsity Gridley Bulldogs started the season with a great game and win against Willows on Friday. I'm sure everyone at GHS was more than happy to see such a great start to the season and is looking forward to the games to come.

One thing is for sure — we, the students of Gridley High, are determined to make this an awesome year.

Mariah Holmes is a junior at Gridley High School. Her column appears every sixth week in Education.