Getting into the groove

Mike Swanson

During the summer, it rarely matters to kids whether it’s a Tuesday

or a Saturday.

The season of the all-important weekend, however, returned for

Huntington Beach children Monday.

Thirty third-graders at Huntington Seacliff Elementary School had

their pictures taken, thought about what makes them important and

took an ungraded math test as lunch loomed on Tuesday -- the second

day of a new school year.

The three-year veterans showed few signs of rust, diligently

shielding tests with their nametags to ensure that neighbors couldn’t

see their incredible answers and showing signs of triumph whenever

they finished anything.

Children struggled more in filling out “Get to Know You” and “I Am

Important” sheets than taking the short math test. Student Julianne

Wolfe said there was really only one thing she felt teacher, Lorna

Notley, and her new class needed to know.

“All I know is I’m a child,” Julianne said.

Classmate Cole Unruh, meanwhile, didn’t have any trouble with the

“Get to Know You” sheet, but struggled with the idea of importance.

“What do you mean the most important thing that’s happened to me?”

Cole asked his neighbor Matt Oakley. “You mean like something really

bad?”

Matt talked him through it and convinced Cole that some positive

things can be important, too.

Wesley Wachob provided a fill-in-the-blank answer on her “Get to

Know You” sheet that anyone could believe.

“It is true that I am honest,” Wesley wrote.

Because of state budget cuts, Notley’s class size rose from 20 to

30 students this year.

“It really is a tremendous difference, but this seems like a

really good group already,” Notley said. “They’re a lot better today

than yesterday and didn’t need much time to settle in. It’s important

to keep everybody comfortable.”

Third-grade is among the most transitional in terms of child

development, Notley said.

“Most come in really young and acting like you expect children to

act, and by the time they leave everybody wants to be cool,” she

said. “By May, the improvement in their work compared to the

beginning of the year is always astounding.”

Her new class is already looking forward to tracking the progress

of something Notley’s been adding to for years. She has three rubber

band balls -- one baseball-sized, one a softball-sized and one

nearing bowling-ball stature.

The three balls sit in a shoebox bed matted with other rubber

bands waiting to be added.

“You’d be surprised to see the excitement kids get just putting a

rubber band on one of these,” Notley said.