{"id":254939,"date":"2024-08-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=254939"},"modified":"2024-08-15T15:11:29","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T15:11:29","slug":"the-great-place-welcomes-students-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=254939","title":{"rendered":"The Great Place welcomes students back"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Sgt. Jasmine Austin, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 91st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and her son Cairo Knight, 3, give a thumbs up after his first day of school Aug. 14, 2024, at Meadows Elementary School at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
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\n Sgt. Gilbert De La Rosa, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 11 Corps Signal Brigade, walks his son Gael, 5, home after his first day as a kindergartner Aug. 14, 2024, at Meadows Elementary School at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
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\n A crossing guard escorts students and parents across the street after the first day of classes Aug. 14, 2024, at Meadows Elementary School at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014 <\/strong>As the 2024-2025 school year commences, it means the end of long, lazy days and carefree summertime activities, but also the beginning of renewed energy and optimism only a new school year can bring about.<\/p>\n

The Killeen Independent School District welcomed approximately 44,000 students back to 53 schools Aug. 14, 31 of which teach elementary. Of these KISD schools, eight reside on the installation.<\/p>\n

Fifth-grader Garret Nutt, 10, expressed the most exciting thing about the first day of school is \u201cmeeting new people and meeting new teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow fifth-grade student Rowan Thompson, 10, was also eager to connect with his peers, noting his favorite thing about the day was \u201cgetting to make new friends\u201d and \u201cgetting to see old friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the staff at Montague Village Elementary School at Fort Cavazos, the first day of school signifies much more than advancing to the next grade.<\/p>\n

It means yet another opportunity to provide guidance, impart knowledge and instill confidence, preparing today\u2019s youth to become tomorrow\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always tell (students) that you just have to be who you are,\u201d said MVES Principal Natalie Cue. \u201cIt\u2019s important that you be your authentic self.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a mantra that has helped her to positively influence each of the nearly 600 students under her supervision and collaborate with dedicated educators and parents to ensure youngsters are \u201cfuture ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started with educators who did that for me and became that for me,\u201d Cue shared. \u201cJust giving me that example and giving me someone to look up to. It was like being what they were for me for someone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always had that as a student growing up, and I wanted to be that for kids,\u201d she continued. \u201cThat\u2019s what inspired me to do the work that I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspiring others keeps her coming back year after year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to stay with it, you have to continue to find what\u2019s inspiring you to do the work,\u201d she explained. \u201cThis work is hard, and you have to find something that keeps you going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cue noted educators must know their \u201cwhy,\u201d to which fifth grade teacher Hasina Rogers agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy why was always \u2026 I can do more for (students),\u201d she explained. \u201cProvide extra support that they might not receive at home or through any other type of resources. So, for me, that was my \u2026 \u2018this is where I\u2019m supposed to be. These kids need me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogers started as an aide in 2011 but desired to do more.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I started getting more hands on and seeing the difference that it really made, it just lit a fire in me,\u201d she said. \u201cI could do so much more in education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogers reminds herself and her students that to know better is always to do better and encourages them to learn from mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t ever give up,\u201d she said. \u201cWe always put our best foot forward to push through. We\u2019re going to have obstacles, we\u2019re going to make mistakes, but we\u2019re not going to let it take us down. We\u2019re going to keep persevering and try to see the good of it and what we can do to make it a success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Educators realize that making mistakes is part of maturing, but a little grace makes it easier to accept shortcomings, conveyed kindergarten teacher Sarah Baez.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething that I try to come into each school year with is that just as much as I need to be graceful and give grace to my students, I also need grace,\u201d she expressed. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be working through all the new things together, so extending grace to teachers from the administration team and from parents and the community is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baez shared she came from a family of teachers, and though she resisted the notion of upholding the tradition, she \u201cstopped fighting the journey in 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe that it is a calling, and that the role of a teacher is not something that just anybody can do,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to have the heart for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teaching wasn\u2019t the first choice for first grade teacher Jessica Butler.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you had told one of my teachers when I was in high school that I would be a teacher, they would have laughed,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI was never going to be that kid who wanted to be at school.\u201d<\/p>\n

A military spouse with an autistic son, Butler was inspired to switch careers from human resources to education upon seeing the effect dedicated teachers had on her son.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t realize what an impact teachers who are passionate can have on a student,\u201d she expressed. \u201cI got to watch it with my own child, and I saw what an impact I could have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever stop growing, never stop learning\u201d is a mantra Butler lives by and infuses into her classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a teacher is one of those experiences where every year is different \u2026 so, we never really stop growing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just like I\u2019m adding and growing, but I\u2019m watching our students learn and grow in all these different ways, and it\u2019s pretty powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Akin to a delicious recipe, with each ingredient contributing a flavorsome note to the dish, the educators at Montague Village Elementary School work in harmony to serve up success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all came into this profession for different reasons, and I think that we have to recognize and remember our why, and whatever that looks like and that it\u2019s going to look different for everyone,\u201d Cue said. \u201cEvery year has its twists and turns, but we have a great staff, we have a great community and our kids are excited to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Sgt. Jasmine Austin, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 91st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and her son Cairo Knight, 3, give a thumbs up after his first day of school Aug. 14, 2024, at Meadows Elementary School at Fort Cavazos, Texas. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254941,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=254939"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254945,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254939\/revisions\/254945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/254941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=254939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=254939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=254939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}