THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 10, 1995 TAG: 9506100310
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BUXTON LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Editor's note: When Krystal Foster started the first grade at Cape Hatteras School last August, Paul South spent the day with her. He went back this week to get her reaction to the school year.
Last August, when she started the first grade, 7-year-old Krystal Foster was apprehensive about the prospect of pencils and paper and reminders to ``Please raise your hand.''
Now, as classes end for her and thousands of other North Carolina schoolchildren, she's more confident and enjoys the friends she's made over the past nine months.
``They are a lot different than they were the first day,'' said teacher's aide April Gray. ``They get along real well with each other.''
That first day at Cape Hatteras School, most children in Kristin Gray's classroom were wide-eyed, trying to figure out the mysteries of the ABCs and the 1-2-3s. Some fidgeted. Some cried.
The fidgeting is still there, but letters and numbers are becoming less and less a problem, and the tears are rare. Some of the children - like Matthew Cartwright - have gained new pals, and lost a few baby teeth.
Faye Foster says her daughter has changed since that morning nine months ago when she walked her to her classroom.
``I see her every day, so I haven't noticed how much taller she's gotten,'' Foster said. ``But she's matured, even in first grade. She's maybe not as shy as she was. She's probably come out a little more.''
Krystal was on the three-member Quiz Bowl team that took honors for the first grade. Her mother said there is some irony in the fact that math is her daughter's favorite subject.
``I worked at a bank for years, and I hated math,'' Foster said. ``But she loves it.''
As for Krystal, she will volunteer little about her first year, usually responding with a shrug, a roll of her eyes, and an ``I don't know.''
But with a little gentle prodding from April Gray, she says that ``The Loft,'' a special area where children can read on their own, is her favorite school activity, along with recess.
Her classmates are more forthcoming. Crew Hayes, a 7-year-old from Avon, warns in great detail about the portable bathrooms on the Ocracoke Ferry. ``I thought I was locked in the bathroom,'' he said.
Chelsie Maultsey of Buxton tells you that Krystal is one of her best friends.
``She's nice, and she does her work all the time,'' Chelsie said.
They'll also tell you stories by the busload about all their classmates, in a patter so fast you can barely take it all in. Their smiles and laughter speak volumes about the kind of year it's been.
``They've really matured socially,'' said teacher Kristin Gray. ``They've all gotten to know each other. On the whole, this has been a good class.''
Like her students, this was Kristin Gray's first year at Cape Hatteras.
``This year was different because I ran into students all the time out in the community. That's something unique for me.''
Krystal and her young cohorts tell you in a heartbeat they are ready for second grade. But not before summer vacation.
Krystal sums up her first year simply: ``Good.''
Her mother is more eloquent.
``First grade is the beginning,'' Faye Foster said. ``I think she's going to be fine in second grade. She's already excited.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DREW C. WILSON
Staff
Krystal Foster, 7, listens as a fellow first-grader at Cape Hatteras
School tells about losing his baby teeth. Teachers say first-graders
at the school learned to get along during the year.
by CNB