Like many students, Justin Wax struggles to fall asleep the night before the first day of school.

Similarly to students worried about their first day outfit or navigating the route to a new class, there are nerves, the junior high principal said.

But if you were at Denham Springs Junior High School at 7:30 a.m. Friday, you wouldn't be able to tell.

Wax with teachers Laci Lemoine, his first ever hire, and Kasie Guarisco, his most recent hire, energetically welcomed in uniformed students as songs such as "Celebration" and "Everything is Awesome" played in the background.

The junior high principal pointed out directions to new students and caught up with returning students.

"I'm liking the new hair," Wax told Derrick, an eighth-grader, outside the car drop-off line.

Wax's interactions w

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