Kindergartner Tanner Green is thinking far beyond counting numbers, drawing pictures and reciting ABCs.

The Broken Arrow School student arrived for his first day in the Lawrence public school district already bound and determined that he would grow up to become a police officer.

“Because they’re cool and they get to ride a motorcycle,” Green said.

Thursday, about 300 wide-eyed kindergartners launched their academic careers in the district. The other half of each kindergarten class will report today for their first day of school. They’ll join forces Monday, the day all the district’s nearly 10,000 students are to be in class.

But it was the distant future that captured the imagination of kindergartners at Broken Arrow, Cordley and Woodlawn schools. They ranged in age from 4 to 6.

Woodlawn’s Isiah Bellinger said he dreamed of being a firefighter.

“You get to wash houses,” he said.

Ted Savich at Cordley was equally interested in the prospect of shielding homes and businesses from incineration.

“I want to spray fires out and climb climbers,” Savich said.

Miranda Williams, a Woodlawn kindergartner, offered advice to the firefighting duo.

“You have to buy a mask before you do that, so you can breathe the smoke,” she said.

Samantha Mills of Broken Arrow and Savannah Dibben of Woodlawn both want to be physicians.

“You can do shots!” Mills declared.

Dibben was intrigued by what might be found inside the body.

“A doctor looks in your mouth and says, ‘Ahhh.'”

Their assistant could be Cordley’s Emma Levy, who plans a nursing career to “take care of somebody when they’re hurt.”

Law enforcement is the place for Drew Bearden of Broken Arrow.

“I get to put people in jail,” he said.

Broken Arrow’s Briauna Huffman said she would like to become her favorite cartoon character.

“I want to be Scooby,” she said. “He’s funny.”

Her classmate, Aaron Hemming, initially thought being a fireman would be wonderful. He reconsidered, and announced: “I want to be a ghost.”

Along those lines, Woodlawn twins Jacey and Jeanna Copp said they intended to focus on aesthetic, leisurely pursuits.

“I like to play and water the flowers,” Jeanna said.

“I want to paint,” her sister said.

It was Broken Arrow’s Elva Adair who hit upon a future guaranteed to come true.

“I just want to be Elva,” she said.

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