MESA, AZ — On a hot summer morning, there were some tears and a lot of hugs at some Valley schools on Thursday.
Several large school districts in Arizona started a new school year, including Arizona’s largest, Mesa Public Schools.
Kindergartner Joey Beaudoin hugged his mom and dad before they saw him off to his teacher at Bush Elementary.
“He's also my baby. Dropping your baby off feels a little strange. But again, we're just really excited. He's excited to be in school,” Joey’s mom, Cathy said.
“What are you most excited for?” ABC15 asked Joey.
"Playing on the big playground,” he replied.
As Joey takes his first steps into his first year of school, seniors like Kate Green, are walking into the last year of their high school career at Mountain View High School.
“When I was younger, you'd just see the seniors, [I’d think] 'they're so old, they're so old' but I do not feel old at all,” Kate said.
Kate still has some things she needs to figure out, from which college she wants to attend to what she wants to major in. But first, she needs to get through her senior year.
"I just want to get to know more people and not just have my exclusive friend group. I want to get to know as many people as possible and take every opportunity that I can,” she told ABC15.
There is plenty of time and opportunity left to be had.
