By Richard Bammer
Like all the kindergarten teachers at Fairmont Charter Elementary, Janice Smith was new on the job this academic year, the first day of which began Thursday morning for Vacaville Unified’s 12,400 students across 16 campuses.
Smith, who formerly taught at Markham Elementary, welcomed more than 20 students and some parents into her room, 105, at the Marshall Road school.
The students, most of them 5-year-olds, sat at their desks, their new name tags affixed to their shirts or tops, as she revealed a few personal facts: She likes dogs, sewing, and tending her garden. Her favorite food? Broccoli, which did not elicit nodding heads or exclamations of “Yummy!” from any of her young charges and most parents. Her favorite book? “Green Eggs and Ham” by Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss.