ZEBULON — Wakelon Elementary School teachers were the students Friday, the last day before the traditional calendar school year started on Aug. 25.

One forty thousand public school students descended on classrooms Monday. At Wakelon, they were ready.

Teachers learned skills to help teach math in their classroom, Friday, one of two seminars held at the school the week before classes started, said Kendra Smith, a special education teacher. The second seminar was on managing behavior in the classroom.

“Our goal this year is to turn up the heat and get students motivated,” said Smith, who’s been teaching 10 years.

Smith said the teachers were rallying around the school’s new theme this year of 212 degrees, or the boiling point.

Her special education team — Cynthia Broadwell and Barbara Minor were hard at work preparing for the year.

The three of them have a combined 65 years of experience teaching special ed.

“We’re always ready to step up to the challenge,” said Broadwell.

Minor said she loved working with special ed students because she enjoyed seeing the confidence they gained when they master subjects.

“Just to see the smiles after they meet a milestone,” she said. “Just as long as you have high expectations.”

At Wakelon, the whole staff gets behind the students, said Minor.

Smith said the office staff sometimes reads to students and the janitor stops by and offers words of encouragement to students who are having a tough time.

Minor also said the staff performs their duties with care and that translates and that creates a good learning environment.

Angela Armstrong was shelving books in the media center. The literacy coach helps teachers with reading instruction and helps students who are struggling with the subject.

“It’s beautiful thing to build reading from the ground up,” she said.

She said students learn quickly after they realize what strategy they need to use to overcome their difficulty.

First year teacher April Porter said the Wakelon staff had been supportive and she felt at home.

“I’m so excited to be a part of the Wakelon staff,” she said. The N.C. Central graduate said she was attracted to teaching because she wanted to help low-income children to achieve their potential. But after serving as a teacher’s assistant in the classroom for four years, her mission expanded

“I’m interested in every single child meeting their potential,” she said. With a fresh enthusiasm, Porter’s ready to tackle big challenges, the reason she was attracted to teaching in the first place.

“I wanted to do something that made a difference in the world,” she said. “I knew as a teacher, I would be able to plant a lot of seeds.”