By the time you read this, it’s likely that the schools of Park County School District 1 are filled with students, many full of first-day jitters. 

Yes, the 2023-2024 school year has begun, and as I write this late in the prior week, I’m still thinking about what school supplies our two sons need and preparing for school year introductory open houses. For me, that’s a whirlwind open house at Powell Middle School with my seventh grader, while my wife takes our third grader to meet his new Parkside Elementary School teacher. 

I know it’s cliche to say, “where did the summer go?” But really, didn’t it seem quick? 

I know my kids think so as they adjust from sleeping in (at our early-riser household, where the chickens never sleep in, that’s around 7 a.m.) to making it to the top of our long driveway for the bus near the start of the rural route. 

They may still be grumbling a bit as they rub their eyes for the first week or two, but I know both are excited as well, because in the last year they have grown to love the school system here. 

As parents, we appreciate it as well, being able to move our kids from a great school district in Cody to a great one in Powell — with the latter having the added bonus of bus service, as we have lived for years outside Ralston near the western edge of the district. 

The start of the school year does bring challenges after the summer — watch out for darting school children in town and always stop for a bus picking up children — but it’s also an exciting time. It’s watching our youngest grow immensely as a reader, and our oldest rattle off math problems that simply leave me befuddled. 

It’s a chance to go watch high school and college sports — some of which have already started — and cheer on your own kids along with everyone else’s. 

There’ll be concerts and other events, that sense of community between school and town that doesn’t feel the same in a larger city.

Yes, the school year may have once again surprised me, but I’m not complaining. So pick up a copy of our Back to School Edition in last Thursday’s paper, take it slow during the times school kids are heading to and leaving school, and enjoy the added excitement that comes with the school year. 

Go Lions! Go Cubs! And go all the current and future Panthers and Trappers!