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Kids reflect on the start of a new school year

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Summer is over, and for millions of kids, that means one thing - back to school. Students around the country are returning to classes with new teachers, new subjects, maybe even new friends. So we caught up with three kids across the country to tell us how they feel about heading back to class.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

EMMETT FRIEND: My name is Emmett (ph) Friend. I'm in first grade, and I have three teeth missing.

MARIA GUILLAN: Hi. My name is Maria, and I'm in kindergarten, and I'm 5 years old.

ALICE TRITHART: My name is Alice Trithart, and I go into first grade. I felt lots of kind of feelings but mostly scared and excited.

MARIA: I see all my friends I enjoy. I do so much stuff.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

EMMETT: So I feel a lot older. I'm a lot taller than I was last year. And I have a different age, different grade and getting to learn about new things. I learned about senses.

MARIA: Learned sounds like the letter ooh or ah or uh.

EMMETT: Once you learn something, your brain can get a crack inside, which releases smarts.

ALICE: My favorite part of going to school is math. Because math is surprising, and I like surprises.

EMMETT: So I love dinosaur history because it's really great. I've been trying to convince my classmates that dinosaurs are, like, the best animal. They keep saying bears, bears, bears.

RASCOE: All three said it was an exciting and eventful week back.

ALICE: My teacher pulled out some magic keys. And she said they were magical, and I can't wait to find out more about them. And someone also threw up.

RASCOE: That was Emmett Friend of Chicago, Maria Guillan of Orlando, Fla., and Alice Trithart of Potsdam, N.Y. Here's to a wonderful school year.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.