MILILANI — They gathered with bright, shining faces and sat in their places, some with backpacks at their feet, and most with a new pack of school supplies on the table next to them.

Almost the first day of school. Almost the beginning of a new life.

But these weren't the children — these were new Hawai'i public school teachers going through their first orientation session in the Department of Education's O'ahu central district. A few were fresh off the plane from the Mainland, and many were preparing to step into their very first classroom as full-fledged teachers.

"I just want to get the ball rolling," said an excited Danielle Paschal, 24, who admitted to being a little anxious as she prepares to start at Ka'ala Elementary in Wahiawa, where she will teach first grade and kindergarten as a special-education teacher.

"I studied hard for 2 1/2 years and I did my student teaching and it was fantastic," Paschal said. "I just want to get my own classroom."

Already she can envision it — organized, color-coordinated, pleasing to the eye. "Everything has to be balanced and inspirational right as they come into the room," she said.

The enthusiasm in the Mililani High School cafeteria was palpable, despite the daunting list of forms to fill out, rules to abide by and expectations to fulfill, not the least of which fall under federal No Child Left Behind learning guidelines.

"We just want to get them confident for that first day," said Gail Ahina, resource teacher for teacher development for the district. She said she remembers praying she'd get through her own first day in the classroom.

As the new teachers listened to everything from how to advance up through the salary levels to how to report sick, and munched through a bento lunch, many said they were here because they want to make a difference.

The more kids, the merrier, said Lance Fujioka, who teaches physical education in elementary school but doesn't yet have a school assignment until a school chooses a PE resource teacher.

"I enjoy working with kids — they keep you young," said Fujioka, who started teaching six months ago after graduating from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

He went into teaching partly because his own extended family is fairly small, and there just weren't enough kids around to suit him.

"I got the calling to teach," said Lorraine Grace, 46, who earned her teaching degree in Georgia, where she had worked for a TV producer selling movies to distributors who in turn sold them to small video chains. Though friends warned her about the massive pay cut she would experience, Grace nonetheless launched her second career as a teacher seven years ago and has never looked back.

She's trying Hawai'i because she loved visiting her brother here when he was in the military.

"The people are phenomenally friendly and open and positive," said Grace, who touched down three weeks ago and has bought a condo, visited Wahiawa Middle School to pick up the standards for sixth grade, which she'll be teaching, and contemplated returning to surfing.

As the new teachers broke into groups according to the grades they'll teach — to hear the assembled wisdom of teachers who have spent years in the trenches — they listened intently and wrote furiously.

First-grade teacher Wendy Fukuhara was a font of knowledge.

"When the children come in the first day of school, they're really scared," she told the new teachers. "And the biggest thing is who do they know, and do they have a friend."

With so little control over their own lives, Fukuhara lets the children sit where they want, and next to their friends for support. Once they are comfortable in the new setting in the first couple of weeks, then she will begin to move them around to create the best learning environment, she said.

For the kindergarten teachers listening to veteran teacher Dale Tanouye from Mililani 'Ike Elementary School, the classroom is just a microcosm of the larger world.

Launching into songs to greet the day and tell the weather, Tanouye coached the new teachers on how to deal with children who inevitably cry a lot and how to handle anxious parents, while advising them to keep snapping pictures all through the school year so parents can see their children's progress.

"Just anticipate someone's going to be crying," she said of the first days of school. "Especially those without preschool experience. Every time you stand up. they think you're leaving and you need to reassure them."

For every time Tanouye gently scolds a child, there must be five times she praises that child, she said, and for every child who forgets school supplies, there are extras she has provided.

"The children love to come to class when you know their name," she told the new teachers. "And they forget they have name tags. They'll say, 'How do you know my name?' and I say, 'Because you're so special.' ... They're going to love coming to school knowing they're so special."

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Dale Tanouye's name.