LEARNING THE ROPES WHILE TAKING THE HEAT; AREA SCHOOL DISTRICTS BEGIN CLASSES

Aaron Lanigan and Austin Brown put their new school supplies to good use in the kindergarten classroom Wednesday morning. Aaron used his new scissors to cut strips of paper while Austin gave his crayons a test.

"I don't even know what I'm drawing," Austin said.

But that didn't bother him. He quickly moved on to explore other things in the classroom: blocks, toys and books.

The 176 students at the Primary Annex in Jackson, Mo., spent much of their first day in class investigating and learning the rules. Today they'll tackle the tough lessons like learning to write letters of the alphabet.

With students beginning classes Wednesday in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, much of the day was spent learning classroom locations and schedules and getting a grasp on student handbooks and rules.

Students at the Career and Technology Center spend about the first two weeks, and sometimes a full month, in orientation and learning how to use equipment, said center director Harold Tilley.

With a brand-new building, the center has expanded its class offerings to include some college-credit courses. Enrollment is expected to increase.

"We have the same dedication to excellence, but now we can showcase it much better," Tilley said.

College credit is far from the minds of kindergarten students in Pam Petzoldt's class. They are more concerned about blocks, crayons and the kitchenette toys.

But even on the first day, students learn the routine quickly. Young children like structure, said Petzoldt, who has been teaching kindergarten at Jackson's Primary Annex for 12 years. Yet each year's class is different, she said.

Sometimes students make the adjustment quickly, other years they don't. "It depends on the class," she said. Some years the group is more mature than others, she said.

Lots of adjustment

Adjustment is a big part of the first day at L.J. Schultz School, the seventh-grade center in Cape Girardeau.

"It's a little confusing to start out but they find all their classes," principal Lee Gattis said of students wandering the hallways of Schultz.

It wasn't the confusion of the three-story building but the hot weather that drew the most complaints. Schultz is the only building in the Cape Girardeau School District without air-conditioned classrooms. Temperatures reached 93 degrees by 2 p.m. but felt like 102 with the heat index.

Gattis tried to ease the pain for students by handing out frozen pops after lunch. The twin pops in red, orange and yellow melted quickly, but students didn't seem to mind. Seated at their desks with books and notepads in front of them, some students slurped away at the frozen treat while teachers reviewed lessons.

Early dismissal for some

Cape Girardeau will dismiss students in grades seven through 12 early today because of the heat. When temperatures are expected to reach 100 degrees or higher, the district dismisses classes early for secondary students only.

But on the first day, superintendent Dr. Dan Steska felt like a full schedule was necessary. "It's important to stay all day so they can at least go to every class and meet the teacher. Hopefully this is the last year we will have to do this."

The district plans to close Schultz and move students to the Central Junior High School when a new high school on Silver Springs Road is completed by August 2002. The current high school building will become the junior high school.

Early dismissal schedule

Cape Girardeau secondary schools will dismiss early today because of hot weather.

L.J. Schultz School will dismiss at 11:15 a.m., and Central junior and senior high schools, Alternative Education and the Career Technology Center will dismiss at 11:30 a.m.

Elementary schools will not dismiss because all the buildings are air conditioned.

Announcements about heat dismissal will be broadcast on television and radio. When possible, the district will announce the schedule by 6 p.m. the night prior. When the temperature and heat index is expected to reach 100 degrees or higher, the early dismissal schedule will take effect.