kwingert@messengernews.net

The halls of Fort Dodge Middle School were alive with the excitement of the first day of school on Wednesday. The early-risers enjoyed breakfast in the cafeteria, while those running behind hustled to their first period classrooms.

Halfway down the 6 Gold pod hallway, Ryan Burch and Aiden Ure stood at their lockers, spinning their locks over and over again, hoping that this time they’d get the combinations right so they could drop off their bags and head to class before they were late.

Burch and Ure — and the rest of the sixth grade class — weren’t the only new people in the school. Wednesday also marked the first day of school for Shawn Chesteen, the new head principal at FDMS.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Fort Dodge Middle School students walk toward class on the first day of school Wednesday morning.

“It’s good to see students in the building,” Chesteen said. “Just seeing middle school kids walking through the halls and seeing the excitement on their faces.”

While some of the sixth graders may have been nervous for their first day in a new school, Chesteen said, others seemed to have just been happy to be back with their friends and getting back into the routine of things.

Chesteen, a native of north central Florida, is new not only to the school, but to the district as well. He was hired over the summer after former FDMS head principal Aaron Davidson was named the district’s executive director of educational services.

Prior to coming to Fort Dodge, Chesteen worked in the Sioux City Community School District for 26 years.

“I’ve spent most of my career at the middle school level,” he said. “This is an age group that I really enjoy and I really think you can make a difference with this age group. They’re very impressionable and I like having that opportunity to mold them in a positive way.”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Fort Dodge Middle School sixth-graders Aiden Ure and Rylan Burch struggle with getting their lockers open before the bell rings on the first day of school Wednesday morning.

Chesteen will be bringing some of his traditions from Sioux City to FDMS, he said. Over the next week or so, he plans to go into each grade pod to introduce himself and share his general expectations of the students.

“That’s something I always liked to do in my previous district,” he said. “It’s just a way for them to get to know me, for me to get to know them and to start building those relationships with them.”

Building strong relationships between the students and educators is high on Chesteen’s priority list.

“My goal is to build relationships with kiddoes and help the kids have a positive experience, and do what we can to work and raise student achievement,” he said. “The district’s goal is student experience and we want our students to have the best positive experience possible in order to help them with their academics, move them along in their lives and give them some of those tips along the way to be productive members of society.”

As students filed into the school and made their way to their classrooms on Wednesday morning, Chesteen stood in the school’s main atrium to greet students as they passed by.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Fort Dodge Middle School students catch some breakfast before school on Wednesday morning.

“I’m excited to be here,” he said. “I’m excited to be a part of the Fort Dodge Community School District, working with the staff and working with the students and their families.”

Chesteen’s first day of school was a short one — because of some issues with the air conditioning system at Cooper Elementary School, paired with a heat index of more than 105 degrees, the district released students two hours early on Wednesday. Today will also be a two-hour early release because of the heat and Cooper’s A/C problems. The problems are expected to be resolved this afternoon, according to Lydia Schuur, district director of communications.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Students make their way to class on the first day of school at Fort Dodge Middle School Wednesday morning.