New year, new gear, big smiles

  • Tesnatee Gap Elementary School staffer Catherine Payne hugs students Grayson and Caden Cloer. There were lots of joyful reunions like this Friday as 3,600 students attended the first day of school in White County. DENISE ETHERIDGE/WCN
    Tesnatee Gap Elementary School staffer Catherine Payne hugs students Grayson and Caden Cloer. There were lots of joyful reunions like this Friday as 3,600 students attended the first day of school in White County. DENISE ETHERIDGE/WCN
  • Nathan Lawson is raring to go with his race car backpack at Mount Yonah Elementary. JANE GRILLO/SPECIAL
    Nathan Lawson is raring to go with his race car backpack at Mount Yonah Elementary. JANE GRILLO/SPECIAL
  • Jack P. Nix Elementary School students Sadie and Jay Fullerton wore fashionable attire for their first day of the school year. Sadie is in the fourth grade and Jay is in second grade. They are the children of Kayla Fullerton of Cleveland, who submitted the photo to the White County News Facebook page.
    Jack P. Nix Elementary School students Sadie and Jay Fullerton wore fashionable attire for their first day of the school year. Sadie is in the fourth grade and Jay is in second grade. They are the children of Kayla Fullerton of Cleveland, who submitted the photo to the White County News Facebook page.
  • Carter Bresnahan is happy to see her teacher, Sarah Carter, at Mount Yonah. JANE GRILLO/SPECIAL
    Carter Bresnahan is happy to see her teacher, Sarah Carter, at Mount Yonah. JANE GRILLO/SPECIAL
  • Christy McGuire, left, and her son Brayden Ballard speak with Tesnatee Gap Elementary School secretary Kristen Dennis, right, on Aug. 1. DENISE ETHERIDGE/WCN
    Christy McGuire, left, and her son Brayden Ballard speak with Tesnatee Gap Elementary School secretary Kristen Dennis, right, on Aug. 1. DENISE ETHERIDGE/WCN

    About 3,600 students began a new academic year at White County schools last Friday, Aug. 1. 

    Assistant Superintendent Jonathan Stribling said school has gotten off to a smooth start, and credits administrators, teachers and support personnel for making schools“welcome, fun, and productive places of teaching and learning.”

    The News captured the excitement at Tesnatee Gap Elementary and at Mt. Yonah Elementary. Some parents submitted photos of their children on Facebook for the First Day of School Photo Contest. Enjoy the scenes we captured here online.