A New Year means a new start for the school year. Like a football game, students are given a second half to study hard and achieve the grades they’re working to earn.

Melissa Adkins, reading coach at Moody Elementary School, said, “A new year is always a new beginning. As a student and a teacher, we have two new years. The first is when school begins and the second is the one we have now. It is a time to assess where you are and where you want to be when school ends.”

Even though the year is half way over Adkins says there’s still time to bring grades up.

“This is the time of year when we can begin new study habits or begin teaching strategies based on what has worked or not worked during the past semester. We can see the end of the year goals and evaluate what it will take to achieve those goals,” Adkins said.

The St. Clair County Schools’ system operates on a mission of “preparing tomorrow’s leaders today.” In order to achieve this goal Adkins along with other educators throughout St. Clair County encourages their students to dedicate time to study.

“This is a great time for studying and teaching without some of the distractions that we have in the fall when school begins or later in the semester when spring fever hits. I have always liked this time of year as a teacher because it’s such a good time to focus on the task at hand,” said Adkins.

At Leeds Elementary School (LES) one of the school’s first Tweets of the New Year said, “Happy New Year! It was so good to see everyone at school today. Get ready for an exciting second semester.”

LES’s overall mission is “promoting achievement, respect and success.”

Working towards making that happen in her classroom is first grade teacher Kristin Pilkerton.

In her third year teaching at LES, she let her students know right away she was looking forward to a great 2011-2012 school year.

Making sure the second half of the school year starts off in the right frame of mind, Pilkerton likes to refresh her class’s memory.

“We review our class rules and procedures to get them back into the groove of things,” said Pilkerton.

Working to “develop confident, productive young people and enable them to become independent lifelong learners,” as stated in the Leeds City Schools’ mission statement, both the Moody Blue Devils and the Leeds Green Wave promote the same thing—a positive learning environment.