School buss
A Star photographer captured a mom sending her daughter off to the first day of Grade 1 in 1985. Jessica Dee Humphreys gets out her notebook
After a year like no other — spent mostly at home, learning online — children across Canada headed back to school last week. Kisses, tummy butterflies and a few tears accompanied them, as they did for five-year-old Jessica Lineham back in 1985.
“I was born Dec. 31, so I was younger and a bit nervous,” says Lineham, who previously had attended half days of kindergarten. Star photographer Boris Spremo was on hand at Market Lane School on the Esplanade to capture the sweet moment when she gave her mother, Catherine, a kiss goodbye before her first full day of school. Despite the jitters, young Lineham was looking forward to it, to the relief of her mom. “She was very glad that I was happy to be starting Grade 1,” says Lineham. “My mother worked full-time, so she was happy to see me off.”
Her whole family had accompanied Lineham on her first day. But one of her siblings was less enthusiastic. Lineham’s younger sister Emily, age three, burst into sobs at the door of the school. “My sister was devastated that I was going anywhere without her,” Lineham says.
Lineham’s own three-yearold son was also born on Dec. 31 and is following in his mother’s footsteps at Market Lane School. “Emmett is starting junior kindergarten, which is now a full day of school,” she says. “He says he’s excited, but it will be interesting. I’m sure there will be separation anxiety, as we have been inseparable since the start of the pandemic.”
Lineham has tried her best to make her son’s transition to school a smooth one. “I remember there being so many other children in my classes named Jessica,” she says, “so I purposely tried to choose names for my children that would be less popular. However, this year there will be another Emmett in my son’s class.” When she told him, Emmett took the news in stride. “He thought it was hilarious,” says Lineham. “He said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll tell the teacher to call me Weirdo!’ ”