Although her efforts weren’t always reciprocated, Jill Johnson remained undeterred in welcoming Oak Harbor High School students back to school early Tuesday.

“Happy first day!” she shouted to approaching students unaccustomed to such excitement at 7:30 in the morning.

Johnson, an Island County commissioner and 1989 Wild-cats’ graduate, was decked out in purple and gold and pleased to be on the high school campus, embracing what’s now an Oak Harbor Public Schools’ tradition to kick off the school year.

She joined other community leaders, school administrators and school board members who stood near school entrances to show their support of students and tap into the excitement of the big day.

“I love it,” said Johnson, who’s participated at other schools in the past but chose the high school this year so she could personally greet her niece, ninth grader Lydia Vaughn, as she got off the bus.

“It’s fun for the community to be a part of the first day of school,” she said. “It’s exciting. It was exciting when we were kids, so it was fun to just be a part of it.”

Lance Gibbon started the tradition in his first year as school district superintendent four years ago.

“I think it’s important for our kids to see community leaders and to see that they value school enough to be here this morning to welcome them and they value them as students and individuals,” Gibbon said. “Just having that smile, that handshake, somebody just to even help them find a class.”

Sure enough, Gibbon stopped talking so he could help a high school student who wasn’t sure where he was supposed to go to start his day.

It was the most common question of the morning.

A large sheet of paper posted near the front office showed an alphabetical list of each student and their corresponding advisor and room number.

“If they can make it to their advisor, they can get their schedule and they can get everything else they need to get going,” Gibbon said with a laugh. “They just have to start there.”

Gibbon was joined at the high school by Johnson and a handful of other community leaders, including Sen. Barbara Bailey, Oak Harbor Mayor Bob Severns and Capt. Geoffrey Moore, commanding officer for Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.

“It’s great to see the kids back in school,” Moore said. “The Navy partners in education. It’s a big emphasis to support our community as much as the community supports us.

“Seeing local leadership here supporting the schools, supporting the superintendent and really supporting the students is important. And while today is a physical presence symbolic of that, it’s something that we want to do throughout the whole school year.”

After the early morning stints at high school and middle schools, some leaders dispersed to other welcome parties at the later-starting elementary schools.

Severns and City Council member Erica Wasinger landed at Hillcrest Elementary, where they joined school board president Christine Abbott.

Johnson was off to Crescent Harbor, the elementary she attended.

“It’s so fun. I wouldn’t miss this for anything,” said Wasinger, who has two daughters at Hillcrest. “I support our schools. I love our school district.”

Severns said he was invited to participate the first year and has enjoyed coming back each September.

“The smiles, the cheerfulness and the excitement of the first day are really important,” Severns said.

“The more people we can have from community leadership that are here smiling and supporting them … I think it’s a great way to start the school year.”