LIMA, OH (WLIO) - It was back to school for several local school districts on Wednesday. We checked in as kids get back into the classroom and teachers pull out the lesson plans.
It's hard to believe another summer break has come and gone as long lines were spotted in front of Heritage Elementary School in Lima on Wednesday morning as parents come to drop off their kids on the very first day of school.
"I'm a little excited about it I'm not gonna lie. First day of kindergarten though, so a little sad about that," said Heather Magana, parent.
The students we spoke to seemed very eager for the school year to begin. We asked them what their favorite part of school is.
"Seeing my teacher and my friends," said Makarie and Markyah Williams, students at Heritage Elementary.
"It's because school has all the kids and recess," said Jamel Worth, Heritage Elementary Student.
"Doing homework. Yeah! I like math and reading," commented Maliyah Molina-Hardy, Heritage Elementary Student.
Preparing for the return of students can be a little stressful at times, but Principal Stacy Barker says they are ready.
"There's so much that goes into the start of a new school year as far as getting our students registered, getting them assigned to classes, making sure that the building is ready to go that they have materials. But, you know, very year when it comes this time I feel like we're ready to start," explained Stacy Barker, Heritage Elementary principal.
Valery Conrad is on her 32nd year teaching at Lima City Schools. She tells her students she is the queen bee of the classroom, and they are her worker bees. Conrad says it is nice to finally see faces.
"We've been in our classroom probably the last two weeks trying to get them ready for today, so very exciting to see faces go along with all that prep," said Valery Conrad, Heritage Elementary teacher.
The last couple of years have been particularly challenging for our educators as the pandemic disrupted the way that kids learn. Principal Barker says she is very optimistic they will make up for lost time this year.
"Last year we noticed just the instruction that had been lost and just trying to get those kids caught up so that they are on grade level. So we hope that this year we can again make gains so our students have picked up all of that instruction and time that they lost when they weren't in the school," added Stacy Barker.
