Mayfield pupils get a sneak peek

By Amanda Stewart

Published: August 29, 2008

Friday morning at Mayfield Intermediate School, bells rang, teachers taught and students navigated the halls.

It was the first day of school. Almost.

Hundreds of students, and some parents, filed through Mayfield's halls Friday during new student orientation, which served as a kind of dress rehearsal for the first day of school.

The students—mostly fifth graders and a few sixth graders new to the school—got a chance to meet their teachers, figure out their schedules and find their classrooms, all in an attempt to prepare for the first real day of school Tues-day.

Many of the fifth graders, preparing to go to a non-elementary school for the first time, said they were excited about their new school. But some admitted they were a little nervous too.

Ten-year-old Dave Sharma said Mayfield is definitely a lot bigger than Baldwin Elementary School, where he at-tended fourth grade last year.

"It's a big school and I have to come all the way up to the second floor and all the way back here," he said, pointing to his home room, tucked away in a corner of the fifth grade hallway.

But it's not all bad, Dave said.

"They have really nice chairs," he said after peeking into the classroom.

Dave's mother, Mohini, said she was excited to see her son start the fifth grade.

"He will be a big boy now," she said with a smile. "My only fear is I want him to have a good teacher. But I think he will. I've heard good things."

In the classroom next door, fifth grade teacher Susan Demeria helped her students figure out their class schedules before taking them on a tour of the building.

The tour made stops at the school gym, the music rooms, the foreign language and art classrooms, and—a popular stop—the cafeteria.

"I know you all might be a little nervous now, but I promise we'll get you where you need to go," Demeria said as she led the students through the school.

If fifth grader Richard Gustapson was nervous, he didn't show it.

"I'm excited about learning new things and I'm also excited about meeting my new teacher," Richard said with a grin. "I'm just excited about everything I'm going to learn this year."

When it was time for students to go to their home rooms, Richard took off down the hall.

Then he stopped, turned and offered one last wave to his father's cell phone camera before racing off to greet the fifth grade.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.