Pinecrest Village Councilman Leslie Bowe continued his personal tradition this year of showing up on the first day of school to "lend a hand" to students and staff.

Councilman Leslie Bowe checks absentee cards with Principal Janet Hupp on first day of school at Palmetto Senior High

"I’m just trying to help them get through that tough first day," said Councilman Bowe, 40. "And I enjoy it."

This is the third straight year that the personable Village lawmaker has made himself available to Principal Janet Hupp, who has moved to Palmetto Senior High from Palmetto Middle School.

"Actually, I feel like I’ve come home," Hupp said. "I pretty much grew up at this school, first as a teacher and then as an assistant principal. And Leslie always comes to help me out every year on the first day of school. He really is a big help."

Bowe and Hupp have a special teacher-student relationship and have known each other since he was a student at Killian High School and she was a teacher at the school.

Bowe arrived at Palmetto at 7 a.m. and began the day strolling the school’s hallways, offering assistance and giving students directions on how to find their classrooms, directing them to floors and buildings. He later appeared on closed-circuit television welcoming students to the first day of school at Palmetto Senior High.

"I talked about safety and told them when they’re leaving school to make sure they keep within the speed limit and to wear seat belts," said Bowe.

Later, Bowe did a variety of normal tasks, including working on the "no-show" cards and checking to see which students didn’t show up for the first day of school, filing and cataloguing the absentee cards and inputting the data into the school’s computer. The councilman helped at the administration office front desk registering late arrivals and checking to make sure they were within the school boundaries.