Plymouth schools back in session

Thursday, August 8, 2024 at 12:30 AM

By Wes Dehne

Photo gallery included in coverage of Plymouth Community School Corp.'s back-to-school activities on Wednesday.

Plymouth Community School Corporation kicked off the new school year in grand fashion Wednesday morning — quite literally for a couple school administrators of Lincoln Junior High School.

There, Principal Reid Gault and Assistant Principal Josh Martin welcomed middle schoolers back in style, donning suits while rolling out the red carpet for a new year.

"We're excited about making sure all kids can achieve here at Lincoln Junior High School," Martin said in between greeting students as they made their way off buses and into the school.

"We've got our four core beliefs," Martin added. "We're not just helping kids be strong academically, but we want them to be good little people, and we're really excited to have them back."

Later that morning, a back-to-school pep rally was held in the Plymouth High School gym. Serving as emcee was Assistant Principal Ken Olson, who introduced students to the teaching staff and led them in games to kickoff competition for this year's Class Cup.

Students were also introduced to the administrative staff, including Principal Jake Singleton, Assistant Principal Josh Dingeldein and Dean of Students Abby Travis.

"I always tell everybody, 'You can only do the first day of school once,' so we just really try to kick it off and provide kids with a great experience," Singleton said. "I think building that positivity on Day 1, with the pep rally and then we do a whole school cookout on the football field every year and that's been just a great way to build that positive community."

He said there are no major changes for the new school year, but noted there has been a lot of discussion about the state's new law concerning cellphones and other electronic devices. The new law requires school districts to adopt policies banning students from having wireless devices during class time.

"Our policy has actually always been in line with the state," Singleton said. "I think it's just another good chance to refresh and kind of reestablish those expectations."

He said that cellphones need to be put away during instructional time, but students could still have them at passing periods and at lunch.

"We're looking forward to another great year here," Singleton added. "We've got great teachers, great kids, so we're excited."

Travis had the honor of announcing that Wednesday was not only the first day of school for Plymouth students, but also the first day of the annual Class Cup Competition. After a performance by the cheerleading squad, classes competed in games of rock, paper, scissors for one winner, dancing and basketball shooting.

Rounding out first-day activities was a schoolwide cookout at The Rockpile. Food vendors also were available during the back-to-school celebration, including Kona Ice, tiny little donuts and Ben's Pretzels.