New Year, same alarm clock
Holiday mode is officially over. Parents are celebrating, teachers are bracing themselves, and alarm clocks are back in charge.
The school bell has rung, lunchboxes are packed, some more enthusiastically than others, and alarm clocks across the country are once again earning their keep. January has arrived with all its familiar energy, and exhaustion.
For parents, the return to school is often met with a quiet, almost guilty sense of celebration. After weeks of juggling holiday entertainment, extra meals, noise levels that rival a sports stadium and the constant refrain of “I’m bored”, there is a collective sigh of relief.
For teachers, however, the mood is somewhat different.
While parents cheer the return of school uniforms and timetables, teachers are dusting off lesson plans, reorganizing classrooms and mentally preparing themselves for a year that will once again demand patience, creativity, resilience and a very good sense of humour.
Kicking the school year off with athletics will ensure that teachers very soon forget that they just had a break and while schools are finding their rhythm again, so too is De Kaap Echo.
After a well-earned break and an unforgettable journey through Namibia, stories I will share at a later stage, I am back in the editorial chair and back in action. I would also like to extend a sincere thank you to Anchen Coetzee for holding the fort during my absence.
As we step into a new year, I once again invite the Barberton community to share their stories, news and events with us. De Kaap Echo is introducing a 12-month community events calendar, hosted on our website at dekaapecho.co.za, where it will remain live and be updated as new events are submitted.
The calendar will be pinned on our Facebook page for easy access, but all event updates will be managed by the De Kaap Echo team. To ensure accurate and timeous updates, event details should be submitted as early as possible.
Local organisations, clubs, churches and schools are encouraged to send me their event details via WhatsApp or email. Please note that submissions must reach us before the 10th of the month prior to the event.
Here’s to a fresh start, busy classrooms and alarm clocks we are not quite ready for.
𝓛𝔂𝓷𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮.
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