It’s back-to-school Tuesday across much of the Ozarks, and students at Republic High School are getting a little something extra when they arrive.
What We Know: Residents from The Township Senior Living, located just down the road from the high school, are continuing a tradition of welcoming students back for their first day.
And let’s face it, that first morning can come with some nerves.
Freshmen are walking into a new school. Seniors are beginning their final year. And just about everybody is getting used to that early alarm clock again.
Republic High School Principal Eric Stephens says Township residents help break the ice by greeting students with smiles and snacks as they arrive.
Stephens says seeing smiles at 7 in the morning isn’t always a guarantee with high school students, but the annual welcome seems to bring them out.
The residents enjoy it just as much.
What It Means: The Township has also helped with a back-to-school supply drive, giving residents another way to support local students.
Stephens says the relationship does something else that’s important — it brings different generations together.
Students get to meet people who have plenty of life experience and, even if it was quite a few years ago, remember what those first-day jitters felt like.
Republic wasn’t alone in heading back to class Tuesday.
What’s Next: Springfield Public Schools and dozens of other districts across the Ozarks also began the new school year on Tuesday.
School buses are back on the roads, school zones are busy again, and thousands of Ozarks students are officially back in class.
(Photo Courtesy: Republic School District)