Teachers prepare for weeks to get ready for start of school

Getting ready for the first day of school takes time.

Just ask first-year teacher Andrea Pasquale, who will teach first grade at Sylvania’s Stranahan Elementary School, and who has spent the better part of the end of July and the first week of August setting up her classroom.

“I’ve been here every day for two weeks for like three hours [per day],” she said, while setting up her new room on Wednesday. She said that although organizing everything has been a process, she is ultimately looking forward to the first day of school which in the Sylvania Schools’ district falls on Aug. 23 for students in grades 1-9. Students in grades 10-12 will start their first day on Aug. 24, with kindergarten students going back on Aug. 27.

“I’m very excited to meet my kids and start my first year here,” she said. Ms. Pasquale completed her student teaching last year at a Perrysburg’s Woodland Elementary School.

In another room down the hall, second-grade teacher Susan Curfman was busy readying her classroom as well.

“It takes a long time,” she said. “I’ve been doing this for two weeks.” Her approach to getting her room set up is to take it one step at a time.

“I came in and put up new bulletin board paper — just off and on,” Ms. Curfman said about her classroom prep time. She has taught at Stranahan for the past 10 years.

Contact Kelly McLendon at: kmclendon@theblade.com or 419-206-0356.