Some back-to-school advice for students

The first day of school is here! There are back-to-school sales in a variety of stores for school supplies, clothing, and even food for lunches and snacks. Shopping malls look forward to the end of summer for back to school shoppers – and sales are everywhere!

On the first day of school, my high school gave every student an agenda book that included the rules and regulations, such as the code of conduct, a map of the school, a day to day calendar for assignments, a list of clubs and the day divided into periods, so that you know the time of your next class. It also included instructions for inclement weather. At schools, there are announcements in the morning for clubs, bake sales, when to buy tickets for school plays, assemblies and, sometimes, an early dismissal.

All new students will have to endure the process of making new friends, as well as all students meeting new teachers and following a brand new schedule. They have to be prepared for what’s about to come during the school year, such as new assignments and extracurricular activities. You can be nervous when you go into a new school, and if you don’t know where something is located, a hall monitor or teacher will always be available to help you navigate the building.

There are even extra-help classes, before or after school, where you can meet with the teacher to go over the assignments you need help with, and they will be happy to provide assistance in any way that they can. There is also a resource center for extra help.

After school, there are many clubs and sports in which students can participate. Some of these activities are Battle of the Classes, where you compete in different contests against the different grades, and Sports Night (In East Rockaway, its Rock Rivalry; in Lynbrook, Class Night).

Leading up to these activities, at my school the students in each grade would participate in Spirit Week. The students would wear pajamas bottoms to school, wear a college T-shirt, wear a t-shirt with the picture of a band or musical artist.