ON CAMPUS

NEWPORT BEACH -- Six energetic first-graders from Mariners Elementary

School told the Daily Pilot on Friday morning what their goals are for

the new school year -- and what they want to be when they grow up.

Between questions they talked about how much fun they were having in

first grade, how doing homework has become a familiar phrase, how much

they liked their teachers, and oh ... one more thing, how much fun it was

to be interviewed for the newspaper.

Here’s what they had to say:

(1) Dana Pitts, 6, first-grader, Newport Beach:

“My goal is to be better at math. The questions are hard and so are

timetables. I plan to swing on the swing set. I want to be a model when I

grow up.”

(2) Nicole Perrier, 5 1/2, first-grader, Newport Beach:

“I want to learn subtracting because subtracting numbers is harder than

adding. I plan to play soccer. I want to be a soccer player when I grow

up. I watched the Women’s Soccer Cup Final with my mom, and they are the

reason I’m in soccer.”

(3) Ian Warren, 7, first-grader, Newport Beach:

“I want to do really hard math problems. I also want to learn how to

swing hard. And I think that’s all. But I want to be a policeman when I

grow up so I can do whatever I want.”

(4) Jillian Paul, 6, first-grader, Costa Mesa:

“I want to learn how to do math because I didn’t know how to do it in

kindergarten. I want to be an expert in karate when I grow up. I’m

already a yellow belt.”

(5) Michael Lyons, 6, first-grader, Newport Beach:

“Well, I know how to make a star with almost everything, like

construction paper and markers. So now I want to learn how to make an

airplane and a paper boat. I want to be a scientist when I grow up.”

(6) Taylor Cordeiro, 6, first-grader, Costa Mesa:

“I want to learn how to subtract because I don’t know how to. I want to

be a policeman when I grow up.”