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Sixth grade means more than going to a new school, changing teachers throughout the day and entering a new phase in life.

It also means lockers.

On Monday, the first day that Steamboat Springs School District schools were back in session, sixth-graders couldn't help but marvel at the benefits of a locker.

"It's cool," Mariah Starbuck said about starting the sixth grade at Steamboat Springs Middle School. "It's bigger, and we get lockers."

Sixth-grader Eryn Rinck said she decorated her locker with "green bubbly" wallpaper and matching holders for pens, pictures and more. She also got a white board to write herself notes.

During her first day of sixth grade, she struggled to resist the temptation to open her locker over and over, she said.

Sixth-grader Robby Davis said that throughout the summer, he has looked forward to school starting. Middle school is a new, bigger school, with a lot more people and a lot more teachers, he said.

It also means being a member of the youngest class in the school for the first time in a long time.

"We just moved from being the oldest kids at the school, at the top of the school, to being the bottom," Davis said.

For eighth-graders, that hierarchy is, in a sense, earned.

"It's different and exciting, too," eighth-grader Kathleen Dobell said. "Just being the oldest in the school. ... You don't have anybody above you or bossing you around, I guess would be one way to say it."

Eighth-grader Hannah Ram--irez remembered her first day as a sixth-grader and how nervous she was. Coming back as an eighth-grader is not nearly as nerve-wracking.

Dobell agreed, saying her advice to sixth-graders would be not to be nervous about being in a new school with a new schedule.

"It's not as scary as it seems," she said. "It definitely gets better as you're older."

But like most students, both girls agreed that wearing a new outfit is a must for the first day.

The beginning of the year can be a stressful time for all students, and Middle School Principal Tim Bishop emphasized that parents should communicate openly with the school about concerns or questions they might have.

He said he and all of the school's teachers and staff are looking forward to the start of the school year.

"We're very proud of our school, and we feel very fortunate to have the staff and the students that we do have," Bishop said.

Sixth-grader Alex Repollo said entering the sixth grade is an important step.

"It's hard to believe that you can be in sixth grade," she said. "It's, like, a big change in life."

She said she expects school to be more challenging academically, and there's the challenge of going from class to class and remembering where everything is.

But she and sixth-grader Carmen Matthews agreed that there is one overriding benefit.

"We have lockers," Matthews said.

-- To reach Susan Cunningham, call 871-4203 or e-mail scunningham@steamboatpilot.com