First bell at Bell Middle

Amber morning sunlight, and a bevvy of school staff greeted new students to Bell Middle School on Monday for the start of the 2015/16 school year.

“It’s a great day,” said P.E. teacher Erin Ourganian, better known as Mr. O, as he helped direct the flow of parental traffic dropping off new students.

The day was specifically for new seventh graders to get introduced to the school, while the eighth graders would officially start Tuesday.

“When they (seventh graders) come in, they’re so small, and they have that excited and terrified look in their eyes,” said Ourganian. He said one of the reasons he’s kept teaching at Bell for 15 years was the chance to see those students grow in many different ways by the time they graduate up to high school.

The new students congregated outside the school doors, some with parents by their sides, some with old friends from elementary school.

Among them was Caden Gerig, who said he was excited to start a new school. He said he came here from Lakewood specifically to take advantage of the school’s iSTEM program, which offers hands on science, technology and engineering project-based learning.

Mom Danika Gerig said she was more nervous.

“He’s going to be fine though,” she said, patting Caden’s back.

Inside the school’s gymnasium awaited dozens of eighth graders, all wearing bright green shirts, marking them as WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) Leaders. As the new students pass through the gym doors, they were greeted by a long line of WEB Leaders, cheering, with hands raised for high fives.

“It feels awesome helping kids,” WEB Leader Luke Maestas said between shouts and high-fives.

Once inside, the new students were given name tags by more eighth grade volunteers, while uptempo pop songs blare over the PA system.

Eventually the new students took their seats in the Bobcats’ gym. School councilor, and WEB Leader organizer Lynn Renter took the mic, greeted the new students to their middle school.

“We are all about teamwork and excellence at Bell Middle School,” she said.

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