FIRST DAY

MAT-SU — As the first day of school let out at the new Fred and Sara Machetanz Elementary it was hard to tell who was more excited — students or staff.

Breaking in a new building with cutting edge technology “was really awesome,” said third-grade teacher Ben Tichenor, or “Mr. T” to his students. “It was the best. The school’s amazing and the students really like it. … We’re going to have a great year.”

Located south of Wasilla and Palmer near the Parks Highway interchange, Machetanz Elementary is surrounded by ongoing construction. Although prepared for a few hiccups on the first day, there were none, said principal Tom Lytle.

“The first day has been absolutely marvelous,” he said. “I’m thrilled to actually see this happen, to finally come to the point when we have kids in the building. On a scale of 1 to 10, today was an 11. We were prepared for all sorts of hitches, and everything went smooth.”

It was smooth for 6-year-old Shailey Symbol, who was all smiles while being picked up by her mother, Dian Symbol.

A student in Robin Oullette’s class, Shailey said the new school “is good,” and her teacher “is pretty cool.”

She also liked “that we got to go to recess and go do fun stuff.”

Although excited as the dismissal bell rang at 3:30 p.m., “she was a little nervous this morning,” Dian Symbol said. “This is, like, the big school to her. A few tears came, but I think it was harder for mom to separate.”

Dave Gonzales was waiting with Symbol and said Monday’s first day was especially moving for him. An iron worker, Gonzales helped build Machetanz.

“I got to work on the new school, and it’s neat to have friends’ kids go here,” he said. “It’s really cool. It gives some excitement in my job.”

Fano Pasa was bombarded with excited tales of the first day by his three children at the school.

“It was really fun,” said third-grader Anika Pasa. “I did PE and I had lunch and we did math. I like that I can learn to add and subtract. I wanted to get back to school.”

Her excitement wasn’t shared by all students, however. Lauren Massie, 12, began seventh grade at Teeland Middle School on Monday and was at the new elementary with his mother to pick up his younger brother.

Although he liked seeing friends again after a summer away from classrooms, he prefers summertime. Massie said his summer “was pretty slow and boring,” but still better than going back to school.

School nurse Marni Meier said the first day was business as usual for any elementary school.

“No visits from kids who didn’t want to be at school,” she said. “No stomach aches or anything. We had a cut finger and a bumped head. That was it.”

An excited 8-year-old Alex Ferland talked fast to fill his father in on all the first-day activities.

“I thought it was pretty good today,” he said. “Just for explaining rules really good, the gym teacher said I was a star. Also, we were talking about fun things, and my fun thing was eating a candy bar, and my teacher loves chocolate.”

Because Machetanz is new, the students will get to choose the school colors and mascot, a prospect that has Ferland jazzed up.

Ferland’s choice for mascot? A red Skittle.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.