It had been awhile since 17-year-old Win Jones said he drank school milk.
Just as he did 12 years ago, right before his first day of kindergarten, Win recently ceremoniously held a carton of 1% Darigold for a picture.
The Sequim teen’s first day of kindergarten was documented in 2011 for the Sequim Gazette series, “First Time for Everything.” The story detailed his first day of school starting at the Boys & Girls Club’s KinderKids program before segueing to Helen Haller Elementary, where he learned the day-to-day routine of a kindergartener for the school year. Recess and time for dinosaur play were sprinkled in, too.
As custom, kindergarteners like Win Jones find their backpack hook on the first day of school.
Win said he’s expressed an interest to recreate the photo in recent years, and he posed for an updated photo Sept. 25 just before his first in-person class — a biology lab — as a Running Start senior at Peninsula College.
The cheerful image of him drinking milk at lunch is what his mom Laura Gould said she remembers most from his first day.
“I think it’s been ingrained in my mind through the years,” she joked.
His dad Powell Jones remembers his energy level.
“He was excited and ready to go for it,” Jones said.
Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Win Jones, 5 and the time, does a writing exercise in 2011 on their first day of kindergarten.
For Win, he vaguely remembers his first day of kindergarten … aside from the article. (Read the 2011 article here.)
He recalls elements such as splitting the day between the Boys & Girls Club and Helen Haller (this was years before the Sequim School District switched to full day kindergarten), his teacher Mrs. Nash (this author’s wife) and his “Burp” shirt.
For the recreated photo, Win said if he still had the shirt with a creature burping he would’ve worn it … or at least would have tried to wear it.
Now older, taller and focused on a career, Win is on a path to becoming a traveling nurse.
“There’s always employment for it,” he said. “It’s a fulfilling job and good pay.”
He’s working on his prerequisites to become a registered nurse while finishing credits for his high school diploma at Sequim High School.
In 2011, Win’s parents said he had a big imagination and they could see him as an engineer or paleontologist. It was noted he carried a little dinosaur with him all of his first day.
New first day
Navigating kindergarten versus college has a much different flow for Win.
Unlike his Sequim High classmates, his first classes were online Monday, Sept. 24, a few weeks after Sequim schools started.
Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Five-year-old Win Jones puts his best efforts into hula-hooping during his first recess as a kindergartener in 2011.
The night before, he spent the night at a friend’s house in Maple Valley. Win didn’t want to drive late, so he left early that Monday morning.
Once home, he logged into his classes for about an hour, found out what was required of him his first week, and went to workout and work a shift at the Sequim YMCA.
“The idea of eating breakfast at 10 (a.m.) when my friends are in third period is pretty sweet,” he said.
Win is taking three online classes — Intro to Statistics, History of Art and Biology with its lab in-person on Tuesdays. He’ll take three classes per semester with likely plans to apply to the college’s nursing program.
Running Start, a tuition-free option for high school juniors and seniors to receive high school and college credits, is something Win said he knew he wanted to do last year.
Some difficult classes, including AP Calculus and Medical Interventions, taught by his mother, helped give him insight into college and a career path.
Doing Running Start surprised his parents, they said, as he likes to be around his peers.
“He’s ready to get out there and start his life,” Gould said. “P.C. was a way for him to get moving.”
Impact
Win said it wasn’t until his junior year that he truly had what he calls the “high school experience.”
Halfway through his eighth grade year, he recalls taking geometry at the high school and over the intercom hearing the announcement school was out for five weeks due to Covid-19.
“It was the best moment of my life, I thought,” Win said. “It turned out to be a lot longer than that.”
“I missed out on my freshman and sophomore years.”
Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Kindergarteners line up after recess at Helen Haller Elementary on their first day of kindergarten in 2011 as fellow kinder Win Jones takes a sip of water.
Safety protocols had various measures in place such as virtual learning and masking, but Win said his one year of full-time, in class learning as a junior was enough.
“I only really needed a year in school,” he said. “I also like having a more lenient schedule.
“(As a Running Start student) I can still go to dances and sporting events.”
Gould said her children, including a now-11-year-old daughter Eleanor, flourished during the Covid pandemic by finding a passion for mountain biking and being outside.
“They came out relatively unscathed,” she said.
Win said he feels the pandemic didn’t affect him mentally much and his insecurities went away quickly.
Sequim Gazette file photos by Matthew Nash Win Jones conquers a castle with some help from a group of dinosaurs during his first day of kindergarten in 2011.
Gould said many freshmen, including Win, had long hair so you could only see a few inches of their faces with masks on.
“No one realized he was my son because we have different last names,” she said. “He kept a super low profile.”
His junior year though, he referred to her as “mom,” took her Medical Interventions class and was her teacher’s assistant for a period.
“He’s not embarrassed by his parents,” Gould said. “We feel very fortunate we’ve always had a good relationship with him.”
Reasons
Following one of his parents’ careers wasn’t really an option, including his dad’s job as director of the Dungeness River Audubon Center, Win said.
While in middle school, Win — whose full name is Erwin Powell Jones VIII — considered pursuing a teaching career, but “not for the right reasons.”
He said his train of thought was something like this: “Dude, I just want to be the coolest teacher and I just want all the kids to think I’m super cool.”
“Now I’m like, ‘You know what? Teaching is probably not for me.’”
This summer he helped lead summer camps at the Sequim YMCA and said he gained a “deep respect for kindergarten teachers and everyone in elementary school.”
“I ran summer camps for 6-12 year olds and oh my gosh, they’re wild,” Win said. “They’re super nice, genuine, but man wrangling 30, 6-12 year olds with four people was still incredibly difficult.”
He added, “I cannot imagine being a teacher with 15-20 kindergarteners. I couldn’t even imagine. Much respect.”
Jones said Win is good with people of all ages and nursing requires that, so his sociability is something that likely helped lead him that way. Win comes up with his own plans, however.
“In his journey, he’s proud and forthright about his direction in life,” Jones said. “If I was a lawyer, Win would have fought that. He appreciates support, but he wants to make his own way.”
Gould echoed that Win takes pride in doing things on his own, including with a car he bought and wants to only work on. Small things that would tend to stress other people out, don’t stress Win, Jones said.
“He’s an extremely honest kid,” Jones said. “If he did something wrong, he’d tell us.
“The first time he got pulled over, he told us right away. Laura and I trust him a lot. Over the years, we’re pretty lenient with Win because he’s built such a level of trust.”
Now and later
Growing up in Sequim has been great, Win said.
“Going to school and growing up in Sequim gives you a bigger sense of community,” he said. “I know everyone in my grade and even if I’ve never talked to them I know who they are.”
Jones said being in Sequim allowed Win to be a star of sorts and bond with some individuals more.
He and Gould said they could see him living in a small city like Sequim as an adult, so long as it has access to good mountain bike trails.
Photo courtesy of Win Jones Win Jones participates in his first biology lab at Peninsula College on Sept. 26. As a Running Start high school senior, he’s taking three classes online with one lab on Tuesdays.
Win, however, said he isn’t sure if he’ll want to stay in Sequim.
“Whatever I do, the first or second year of nursing is going to be stationed somewhere, so I want to be somewhere to learn,” he said. “Where that is depends on where life goes.”
For the time being, he’ll continue college courses, working, and pursuing his other passions of exercising/working out and riding his mountain bike.
Ultimately, he sees nursing as an opportunity to do good in the world.
“Even if your day is really hard with a 12 hour shift, you can come home and think I have improved someone’s life today and maybe changed someone’s life for the better,” Win said.
That positivity is something he wants to emanate.
“I want to live by being kind and genuine, and hope it’s repeated back,” he said.
Five-year-old Win Jones greets his mom Laura Gould after his first day of kindergarten in 2011.
Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Five-year-old Win Jones swings next to classmates during their first day of kindergarten.
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