Starting School

by Johanna Hurwitz

  “Then go play quietly in your bedroom,” said their mother as she buried her head in her pillow. “Only babies wake their mothers this early in the morning.”

  The boys ran off to their bedroom, and they passed the time by building a castle using the wooden blocks that had once belonged to their big brother, Lucas. All was quiet until they decided to play crash-the-castle, and all the blocks came tumbling down.

  The next morning they again woke their parents. “Is it time to get ready for school?” Marcus shouted impatiently in his mother’s ear. “Is it time to get ready?”

  Mrs. Cott turned her head and opened her eyes with difficulty. The light from the clock showed the time: 5:31.

  “No,” she whispered. “It’s not time.”

  Mr. Cott sat up in bed. “Listen, you guys,” he said as he stretched his arms over his head. “I have big plans for the weekend.”

  “Are we going to the zoo?” shrieked Marcus with delight. “Are we going to the zoo?”

  “No,” said his father, shaking his head.

  “The aquarium!” shouted Marius. “I like the aquarium better than the zoo. I like the sharks.”

  “Me too,” agreed Marcus eagerly. “I like sharks, too. And eels.”

  “Nope,” said Mr. Cott. “No sharks, no eels, no aquarium.”

  “The movies?” asked Marcus. “What movie are we going to see?”

  “No movie. No trip at all. We’re going to stay home and learn something very important.”

  “What?” asked both brothers in unison.

  “You’re going to learn how to tell time. And I’m going to buy a big clock to put in your bedroom so you’ll know when you should get up in the morning.”

  “I get up when I’m finished sleeping,” said Marius.

  “Fair enough,” said his father. “But that doesn’t mean you have to wake your mother and me. We’re not finished sleeping.”

  Mrs. Cott pulled herself up in bed. She turned to her husband and said sleepily, “Believe it or not, we’re really very lucky.”

  “Lucky?” asked Mr. Cott. “Lucky to be wakened at this ridiculous hour?”

  “Some kids hate school,” said Mrs. Cott, covering her mouth as she yawned. “There were at least three children crying in the kindergarten rooms yesterday morning. They all wanted to go home.”

  “I don’t hate school. I love it,” said Marius. He thought of the planned trip to the fire station. Mrs. Greenstein said they would even get a chance to sit in the fire truck. He’d always wanted to do that!

  “I love school, too,” bragged Marcus. He thought happily of the huge dinosaur his class was constructing out of cardboard boxes. When they finished, it was going to be as tall as the ceiling. “I don’t cry at school, and I don’t throw up. Eudora throws up every day. Every day!”

  “Maybe she’s sick,” said Mr. Cott, getting out of bed. “Her mother should take her to see a doctor.”

  “She did,” said Marcus. “Eudora’s mother told Ms. Boscobel that the doctor said she wasn’t sick at all.”

  “Poor Eudora,” said Mrs. Cott.

  “Poor King George,” said Marcus. “Poor King George. He has to come and clean up our classroom every day.”

  “Poor Ms. Boscobel,” said Mrs. Cott.

  “Poor me,” said Marcus. “My classroom smells of throw up.” He thought for a moment. “But I don’t care. I’m getting used to it.”

  “My classroom smells of mice!” shouted Marius. “It’s better than your class.”

  “But you didn’t see any mice,” Marcus reminded his brother. “You didn’t see a single one.”

  “No, but I smell them. I’m lucky to be in the mouse room.”

  “I’m lucky to be in Ms. Boscobel’s class,” said Marcus. “We’re always doing neat things in our class. Ms. Boscobel has the best ideas of things to do.”

  “I’m lucky to be in Mrs. Greenstein’s class,” said Marius. “We’re going to make things and go on special trips, too.”

  “Your teacher’s name sounds like Mrs. Greenbean,” noted Marcus. “Ms. Boscobel is a better name for a teacher.”

  “Mrs. Greenstein is a perfect name for a teacher,” Marius insisted.

  “You boys are both fortunate. Both of your teachers are wonderful,” said Mrs. Cott.

  Marcus climbed up onto his parents’ bed. “Ms. Boscobel is going to teach us cooking. We’re going to make peanut butter next week.” “Pooh,” said Marius, also climbing up onto the bed. “My class is going to make applesauce. We’re going to put red-hot cinnamon candies in it to make the applesauce red.”

  The two boys argued back and forth until breakfast time. Each one remained convinced that he was in the best kindergarten class with the best teacher.

  Finally, though, they were dressed and sitting at the table for the morning meal. Marius asked for a piece of cheese.

  “Cheese?” asked Mrs. Cott. She was delighted with this request. Marius hadn’t eaten any cheese—not American, Swiss, or even cream cheese—since he had developed a preference for red food.

  Mrs. Cott put a package of orange-colored American cheese on the table. Lucas took a slice and chewed it into the shape of a mustache. “Hey, you guys, look at me,” he said as he stuck the piece of cheese under his nose.

  “I can do that. I can do that!” Marcus crowed with delight as he pressed some cheese under his nose, too.

  “Lucas. You’re supposed to set a good example for your brothers,” scolded Mr. Cott, who today was eating breakfast with his family instead of leaving early in the morning as he usually did. Despite his scolding, he started laughing at the sight of the two orange mustaches on his sons.

  Mrs. Cott didn’t laugh. “Shave those off and into your mouths,” she said. “Lucas. Sometimes I wonder if you’re ever going to grow up.”

  “I didn’t make a mustache,” said Marius smugly. He was glad no one had noticed that he had slipped his piece of cheese into his pocket. He was planning to break it into bits and put it around his classroom for the mouse, or mice, in the walls. He had already done that on several occasions with the snack-time crackers. But after all this time, there had been no results. Everyone knew that what mice really liked was cheese.

  He was eager for the mouse to show up in class. That would prove to Marcus, once and for all, that Mrs. Greenstein’s class was the best.

  5

  MS. BOSCOBEL'S CLASS

  When Marcus entered his class later that morning, he joined two classmates who were building with blocks on the floor. Though he thought it would be better if his twin was with him, Marcus was adjusting well to their separation.

  Suddenly, the door to the room opened and in walked Lucas’s friend Julio. Marcus was so delighted to recognize Julio that he jumped up to greet him and accidentally knocked over the parking garage that he and Jordan and Sam had been building.

  “Look what you did,” shouted Jordan angrily.

  “Yeah,” Sam cried out. “You meanie. You ruined all our hard work.” Tears began to run down Sam’s cheeks.

  Marcus ignored them and rushed over toward Julio.

  “Julio,” he shouted, grabbing the arm of Lucas’s classmate. He wanted everyone to see that this big boy who had come into their class was someone he knew. “Julio.”

  “Hi, Marius.” Julio greeted him with a big smile.

  Marcus frowned. He’d forgotten that Julio always confused him with his brother.

  Luckily, Julio noticed the expression on Marcus’s face and quickly corrected himself. “I mean Marcus,” Julio said. “I’m going to be a mentor in your class.”

  “What’s that?” asked Marcus. He remembered that Lucas had been talking about mentors just last night, but he forgot what it was. “What’s that?”

  “It’s sort of like being a teacher.”

  Marcus nodded his head. He remembered now. He had been disappointed, because Lucas said he was going to be a mentor in one of the afternoon classes, not the morning ones.

  Ms. Boscobel
clapped her hands for attention. She did it her special way. CLAP, CLAP, clap-clap-clap. Whenever she did it, everyone was to stop what they were doing and clap their hands together, too. CLAP, CLAP, clap-clap-clap. “Come and sit on the rug area,” Ms. Boscobel said. “I have an announcement to make.”

  Marcus let go of Julio’s arm and rushed to sit on the front edge of the carpet, closest to his teacher’s chair.

  Julio sat down on the rug next to Marcus, who grinned. Lucas had many friends, but Julio was the one that Marcus liked best.

  When everyone was seated, Ms. Boscobel asked Julio to stand up. “This is Julio Sanchez,” she informed her students. “He is in sixth grade, and he is going to be visiting our class for an hour each week.”

  “He’s a mentor,” Marcus shouted out, proud to know the word.

  “That’s right,” said Ms. Boscobel. “Mrs. Checchia, one of the sixth-grade teachers, has arranged that over the course of the school year each of her students will have a turn spending some time in a kindergarten class. So Julio will be here to help me and help you. Some days he’ll read to you. Other times he may help you if we are doing a craft or a cooking project.”

  “My brother Lucas is in Mrs. Checchia’s class,” Marcus announced. “And Julio is my friend,” he added. It wasn’t exactly true. Julio was Lucas’s friend, but it almost counted.

  “We’re going to review our colors this morning,” said Ms. Boscobel, ignoring Marcus. “I have some cards with different colors. Julio is going to hold them up, and you can raise your hand if you know the color.”

  Ms. Boscobel got up from her chair and gestured for Julio to take her seat. Then she walked over to the closet and removed a large envelope. “Here are the cards,” she said to Julio. “Hold them up. One at a time.” She moved away.

  “Pay attention to Julio,” she told her students. “For a little while, he’s going to be the teacher.”

  Marcus looked at Julio with admiration. Someday, he would be just as big as Julio and Lucas, and he would be a mentor, too.

  Even before Julio could start teaching, Kimberly called out, “Julio. Look! I have a loose tooth.” She wiggled it to show Julio. She had already shown it to Ms. Boscobel and all of her classmates.

  “My brother has a loose tooth,” Paul announced.

  “I have a loose tongue!” Marcus called out. He stuck his tongue out and wiggled it about in his mouth.

  “I can do that, too,” said Jordan.

  Instantly, all the kindergarten students stuck their tongues out at Julio and wiggled them about.

  “I have a loose head,” shouted Marcus. He began twisting his head back and forth. At once all his classmates did the same.

  “My arms are loose,” Marcus shouted. He began waving his arms in the air. Everyone else copied his action. Marcus was surprised at how easy it was to lead his class. In fact, maybe he was even better at it than Julio!

  Julio looked over toward Ms. Boscobel. “What am I supposed to do now?” he asked helplessly.

  “Go on. Pull a card out of the envelope,” Ms. Boscobel called to him.

  Julio stuck his hand into the envelope and pulled out a large card. “What color is this?” he asked the kindergarten children.

  “Mashed potatoes!” shouted Marcus before anyone else could answer.

  Julio smiled. “Yep,” he said. “It’s the same color as mashed potatoes. What color is that?”

  The children looked at one another.

  “Vanilla ice cream,” said Sam. He’d been picking his nose, and he stopped for a moment to give his response.

  “Yep.” Julio nodded his head and looked at Ms. Boscobel again for help.

  “Tell Julio what color mashed potatoes and vanilla ice cream are,” Ms. Boscobel called from the side of the room where she was standing.

  “It’s no color at all,” said Eudora.

  “It is a color,” said Ms. Boscobel. “It’s white. The color white.” She looked at Julio. “Try a different card,” she suggested.

  Julio put his hand into the envelope and pulled out another card. “What’s this?” he asked, waving it in the air.

  “Orange,” Marcus and several of his classmates called out at the same time.

  “Right,” said Julio.

  “Remember what I’ve been teaching you about raising your hand?” called out Ms. Boscobel.

  Marcus raised his hand.

  “What is it?” asked Julio.

  “Orange,” said Marcus. “It’s orange.”

  “Yep,” said Julio.

  “Ask them if they know anything that is that color,” Ms. Boscobel instructed her new assistant.

  “Do you know anything that is this color?” asked Julio.

  “Oranges,” suggested Jordan.

  Marcus remembered to raise his hand. “Orange juice,” he said when Julio called on him. “Orange juice.”

  “Anything else?” asked Julio, looking around at the other students.

  Amy raised her hand. “Jack-o’-lanterns,” she said. She pointed to a picture of a carved pumpkin that was on the wall in anticipation of Halloween.

  “Good,” said Julio. He reached into the envelope and pulled out the next card.

  “Green,” all the children called out.

  “You’re supposed to raise your hand,” Julio reminded them.

  Eudora raised her hand. “Green,” she said when Julio called on her.

  “Do you know anything that is green?” asked Julio.

  Paul raised his hand. “Grass,” he said.

  “Good,” said Julio. “Anything else?”

  “Green beans,” said Kimberly.

  “My brother Marius is in Mrs. Greenbean’s class,” said Marcus. “My brother is in Mrs. Greenbean’s class.”

  “Greenstein, not Greenbean,” said Julio.

  “It’s almost the same,” said Marcus.

  “No, it’s not,” said Julio.

  “Yes, it is. Yes, it is,” Marcus insisted.

  “Can you think of anything else that’s green?” Julio called out, trying to ignore Marcus.

  “Spinach.”

  “Broccoli.”

  “Zucchini.”

  “I’ve got a zucchini bathing suit,” said Kimberly.

  “What’s a zucchini bathing suit?” asked Julio, looking confused. “Is it green?”

  Kimberly shook her head. “It’s a different color. Not green.”

  “Bikini,” Ms. Boscobel called out from the side of the room. “She’s got a bikini bathing suit.”

  “You should raise your hand,” Marcus reminded her. “If Julio is the teacher, then you have to be just like us. You have to raise your hand, too.”

  Julio laughed aloud and pulled out another card. “What’s this?” he asked, trying to look serious.

  Marcus raised his hand. “Tomato sauce,” he said, eliminating the name of the color and once again going directly to the food it represented.

  “What color is it?” asked Julio.

  “Red,” said Paul.

  “It’s the same color as the stuff coming out of Sam’s nose,” said Jordan.

  Everyone turned to look at Sam. Sure enough, some red was dripping down from his nose.

  “That’s blood,” shrieked Amy. “He’s bleeding.”

  Half the children jumped up to get a closer look. The other half of the group kept their distance. Ms. Boscobel came running across the room. “It’s just a simple nosebleed,” she shouted. “It’s nothing to get excited about.” Marcus thought she sounded very excited.

  “I’m not excited,” he said. “It’s not my nose.”

  “There’s blood on the floor!” Amy shouted. “Sam got blood on the floor.”

  “Julio. Watch the students,” said Ms. Boscobel. “I’m taking Sam to the nurse’s office.”

  “I’m not sick,” Sam cried out as Ms. Boscobel rushed him out of the room. “I don’t want to go to a nurse.”

  Julio let out a long sigh. “Everybody sit down,” he said.

 
; “My nose isn’t bleeding. Is your nose bleeding?” Jordan asked Paul.

  “My nose was bleeding once. But then it stopped,” said Kevin.

  “Everybody sit down,” shouted Julio in a loud voice.

  “Don’t sit by the blood!” warned Eudora.

  Julio looked around at the little kids. “What do you usually do now?” he asked Marcus.

  “We play games,” Marcus announced. “Remember how once you played Simon Says with Marius and me? We could play that now.” He rushed to stand next to Julio. “I’ll help you,” he said.

  “Okay,” Julio agreed, relieved to have a plan of action.

  By the time Ms. Boscobel and Sam returned to the room, all of the students were silently tapping their heads. Sam’s nose was no longer bleeding, and he was licking a lollipop. It was the same color as broccoli, spinach, zucchini, and grass.

  “I stopped doing the colors,” said Julio. “I think they did enough for one day.”

  “That’s fine,” said Ms. Boscobel. “And I see you were playing a game with them. That’s fine, too. You are a natural teacher, Julio. You knew just what to do with the children to keep their attention. Maybe you’ll get a job as a teacher when you grow up.”

  “Oh, no,” said Julio, jumping out of Ms. Boscobel’s chair. “This is too hard. I never knew it was so hard to be a teacher. I’m going back to my class. Mrs. Checchia is going to give us a math quiz in a little while. That’s going to be a cinch after this.”

  “Good-bye, Julio,” Marcus called as Julio walked toward the door.

  “Good-bye,” all the other children echoed. Marcus couldn’t wait to tell Lucas all about Julio’s visit to his class. He wondered who was the mentor in Marius’s classroom. Whoever it was, it wouldn’t be as good as having their friend Julio. Poor Marius had to be in the other kindergarten. Marcus was in the best kindergarten class of all.

  6

  BACK INSIDE THE TEACHERS' ROOM

  Ms. Boscobel came into the teachers’ room and plopped down onto a chair. She let out a loud sigh. It had been another hard morning, and she was exhausted. She opened her tote bag and pulled out a paper bag. She put her hand into the bag and took out a sugared donut.