Tykes turn in towels for texts

Come June, kids are scratching at the walls to be out of school.

But by Monday, the swan song of summer for most people, the inside of a classroom is another chance to be with friends and add some new wrinkles to the brain.

“I’m excited for senior year, but not for the homework,” said Zach Minnie, who returns to school Wednesday at Foothill High School in Tustin. Walking across the Newport Beach parking lot donning a wetsuit and carrying his surfboard, he added, “I’m going to miss sleeping in.”

Kids weren’t the only ones sweating out the looming first day.

Sometimes parents can feel the heat with the beginning of school and end of summer too.

Paul Breisch has two boys attending Mariners Elementary School this year. Gabriel, going into sixth grade, and Alex, entering kindergarten.

Breisch has been impressed with the school’s curriculum, saying he expects Gabriel will be coming home with schoolwork on the first Wednesday.

“You ever seen that show ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?’” joked Paul Breisch. “They’re doing stuff in school I never saw at that age.”

Tuesday spelled the end of summer break for many, but Breisch said reminders of the end were coming earlier, especially when they started buying school supplies and he was already having his youngest son study flashcards.

For Beau Nicolette, a lifeguard at Newport Beach the coming weeks don’t just spell the beginning of a new level of school, but the end of the work he loves.

“I’m going to miss being out in the sun. It’s a job where you’re not just bagging groceries,” he said. “I’ll miss everything about it. I’ll miss coming to the beach everyday.”

This being his first year in college, he said, “I’m definitely not looking forward to the homework. But it’ll be nice to meet new people.”

For the youngest pupils, worries are minimal.

“Recess!” exclaimed Andy Liscio, who seemed as enthusiastic about returning to school as he was about being at the beach Monday.

His older brother, Henry, was more accepting of the annual obligation.

Over the summer the 11-year-old had visited family in Virginia and participated in a Christian leadership program, leaving him little room to say the summer was not fulfilling.

Though he’s nervous about his “core” classes of language-arts, reading and literature, he exhibited confidence.

“I’m ready for school,” he said. “It’s been a good summer.”