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By Chris Kieffer, Daily Journal Published on June 26th, 2014

TUPELO – A group of 4- and 5-year-old children are learning this week about tying shoes, walking in lines and taking turns to speak.

Parkway Elementary is hosting “Splash into Kindergarten,” an event designed to orient incoming kindergartners to their new school.

It was devised by Stephanie Stanfield, the mother of an incoming Parkway student, with the help of her cousin, Tracy Wade. Parents for Public Schools and Lee County’s Excel By 5 are supporting the school district in the effort.

“Our goal is to get parents, day cares and teachers more involved together,” said Stanfield, who came up with the idea after volunteering at the school for her other children. “If we combine day cares, schools and parents, we will be successful.”

About 40 students who will start kindergarten at Parkway in the fall are gathering at the school for two and a half hours each morning this week. After a brief exercise, they rotate to one of five classrooms where they will do different activities. Each classroom has a teacher and a volunteer for about seven or eight students.

“The main thing is getting to know the kids and letting them get experience at Parkway and build comfort at Parkway before school starts,” said Parkway kindergarten teacher Jennifer Mathis. “It is a small setting where you get to see the school building for the first time.”

Many of the activities have to do with acclimating the students to a school setting. On Wednesday morning, they practiced trying shoes and zipping jackets.

Parkway kindergarten teacher Morgan Abraham said in planning the week, teachers focused on needs students typically have at the beginning of the year. Several of this week’s campers had not previously been in a formal school setting.

“At the beginning of school when you have 15 to 20 students and one adult in a classroom, it helps if you have two, three or four who are introduced to the process and are aware of some of the expectations so they can help others and be good role models,” she said.

The event is a pilot for incoming Parkway students. It could become a model for a possible district-wide program in the future.

“Hopefully this takes away some of the anxiety of the first days of school,” said Parkway Principal Mitzi Moore.

chris.kieffer@journalinc.com