Don Amend is pictured teaching a class at Greybull High School.

Courtesy photo

When you’re young, nothing marks the passage of time more than the first day of school.

There are birthdays, of course, but when you stop to think about it, nothing much changes on your birthday.  There are exceptions — the one on which you become eligible to drive legally, for instance — but you don’t suddenly wake up into a whole new set of circumstances when you have a birthday. The only real change is that you get to write a different number in the blank after “age.”

Every first day of school, though, dozens of markers indicate that you are growing up. From the time your mom, eyes glistening with tears, drops you off and heads for the coffee shop to celebrate, to the day you stroll into the high school building ready to rule over the institution as a mighty senior, each first day brings a new set of challenges that changes your world.

Some people, me, for instance, don’t stop there. I had perfect attendance over 49 straight first days of school, and while I can’t say all of them were especially memorable, all of them marked major changes in my life.

For example, my initial first day of school, way back in 1950, was the first day that I was routinely called Donald rather than to my childhood nickname. That doesn’t seem like much, but to a 6-year-old kid, it’s an identity crisis, especially since, when I went home, I was still called by that nickname. It took a few days to get used to it. By the end of the year, though, I had adjusted to being Donald at school and someone else at home.

My name changed again, but gradually, beginning on the first day of school in 1956, when one of my teachers called me Don. By the first day in 1959, I was writing Don at the top of my homework when I handed it in.

With those name changes came more substantive changes as the lessons I learned in class and on the playground led to a broader understanding of the world. That understanding changed my view of myself and altered my relationships with my parents, siblings, friends and acquaintances.

The most important first day of school in my life came in 1965. It started a school year during which I acquired the diploma and teaching certificate that I would put to use on 33 additional first days of school. More important, I acquired a fiancé during that year, and she would accompany me through those 33 years and beyond.

Everybody has such a story, made up of the major stages in his/her life, and school days drive many of the changes kids go through in that process.

We send kids to school to gain the knowledge and skills they need in life. Our expectation is that the schools will teach them the famous “Three R’s,” but we also want kids to learn about the world around them and why things are the way they are. We want them to know how democracy works, why it gets cold in the winter, where bananas come from and thousands of similar facts.

The big changes, though, happen because of what they are learning. Learning how to read opens them up to knowledge that will change the shape of their world. The knowledge changes a child’s perception of himself and his place in the world, and it may be quite different from what he perceived before. It leads a student to question what is happening in the world around her, and she may find that she doesn’t like the answers to the questions she asks. The result can be upheavals, both large and small, in a kid’s life, and he needs help navigating his way through those upheavals.

The job for teachers is, not only to lead kids in mastering the needed skills and knowledge, but also to guide them through the resulting upheavals in their lives.

But they don’t do it alone, because children have other teachers outside of school. The most important are their parents, but they also learn from community members who work with them in churches, scout troops, youth clubs, sports and other activities, and who hire them to mow lawns, stock shelves or serve meals.

In short, seeing young people through to adulthood is a community project, and it is best accomplished when school and community work together on behalf of their youth. During my 13 years of living in Powell, I have seen that cooperation in action. As a result, Powell schools have an outstanding record in teaching students and guiding them through the many changes they will undergo during their school experience.

That experience and all its benefits are available to all those entering Powell schools on Aug. 26.

I wish a happy and productive school experience for Powell’s teachers, support staff, parents and, especially, the kids.