By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
It is common for you to be nervous on your first day of a new job, but not Paula Rice.
Rice, the new principal at Roosevelt Elementary School, joined her new crop of first-graders in a glass of jitter juice. The punch was offered to kids to help calm their nerves during their first morning of school Wednesday.
“The energy was palpable,” Rice said of the first day of school. “It was almost tangibly exciting. But the coolest thing was when the final bell rang at 8:02 for class to start, quality instruction was already going on. As I am walking around the school this morning, I see students in seats eagerly paying attention and listening and already asking good questions.”
Rice has been an educator for 11 years. Her last position was as the assistant principal at Hutchinson High School. Although she has never taught at the elementary level, she said she had no qualms about working with younger children.
“Kids are kids. People are people,” Rice said. “Dr. Seuss said it best, ‘People are people no matter how small.’ They are wonderful, just big balls of energy — smiles and giggles and fun and so respectful and so welcoming and so encouraging.”
Rice recently moved to Hays with her husband of 25 years, who is a special education teacher working in Stockton. She said she loves Hays and her new neighborhood, which is within walking distance of the school.
“I love it. Since I have been in town, it has been wonderful,” she said. “I have had neighbors knock on my door and welcome me. It has just been amazing. Hays has such a positive vibe and is laid back. I have had to slow down a little bit.”
Rice, 43, went back to school later in life. She received her associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degree from Friend’s University in Wichita and as well as a master’s degree from Baker University.
“I have known since I was a child that I wanted to be an educator,” she said. “I guess I had gotten to the point in my life where I thought life had happened, and it was too late to go back to school. But when I finally went back to school, I knew that it was the right thing to do.”
Rice said Roosevelt has an incredible staff and strong parent support.
“I told my staff yesterday that I am not going to establish goals for us, because that is something that we need to do as a building and a school community. That is something that takes more than one person.”
She said her personal goal is to learn and help Roosevelt to grow as a family.
Rice’s education philosophy goes back to the relationships she had as a child.
“If you give a child the right support — the right backing — every child can learn,” she said. “They don’t all learn at the same rate. They don’t all get to the same place, but we as adults aren’t all the same either. This word would be pretty boring if we all looked the same and did the same and all functioned at the same level and we all had the same job.”
Rice said she fully supports the state’s new college and career readiness standards and said the foundation of that model starts in elementary school.
“When you are little, you are a dreamer,” she said. “These kiddos are growing up faster than they have to, and a lot of times the dreaming stops. I think it is our responsibility to not only to keep those dreams alive, but to teach them how to attain those goals, to set those goals, to say, ‘I really can be an astronaut,’ ‘Yes, I can be a teacher,’ or ‘Yes, I can go into construction,’ or ‘I can be a researcher.’ Whatever they want to do, now is the time to foster that.”
At the front door of the school are displays depicting what changes might happen if a $78.5 million bond issue is passed by voters this fall.
Roosevelt will celebrate its 50th anniversary in January. Although the school is better condition than some of the other schools in the district, Rice said some needed changes and repairs could be made if the bond passes.
The school has had ongoing problem with the HVAC system, which is only working about half the time. The school uses the same space for a gym, auditorium and cafeteria, which means classes can’t be scheduled in that space during the two hours it takes to serve lunch.
The proposed bond issue would also add a secure entrance and classroom space, so the school could accommodate four sections of each grade.
“I need to protect my students, I need to protect my staff,” she said. “Without a secure entrance, it is difficult to do that.”
The bond would pay for new storm shelters across the district. Currently, the students at Roosevelt are using old maintenance tunnels in case of storms. Those must be accessed by stairs, which means they are inaccessible for anyone who is disabled.
“It is better than nothing,” Rice said of the current shelter, “but I don’t think it is what the kids deserve.”
Rice, as well as members of her staff, have offered to answer questions and give tours to parents or members of the community who want more information about the bond. They need only to visit the school office and ask for Rice.
Monday night will be the Roosevelt’s Parent Orientation Night from 6 to 8 p.m. It will be primarily for parents of second through fifth graders, but the parents of the younger children can also attend.
Rice said the event will be an opportunity for parents and teachers to build adult teams that will support children through the school year. This also will be an opportunity for any parents who wish to meet Rice.