📼 From the vault: Justin Warmoth stuffs cat in backpack for first day of school

News 6 anchor shares video of 1st day of school adventures from boarding bus to stuffing cat in backpack

ORLANDO, Fla. – The first day of school can be stressful, but man does News 6 anchor Justin Warmoth take the cake when it comes to first-day-of-school adventures.

Justin shared some old footage from his first day of second grade. The first clip shows him and brother, Tyler, boarding the school bus in 1997. Of course, dad, Greg Warmoth had to capture the milestone on camera. While Justin and Tyler appear excited to go to school, their younger brother, Logan, was not happy at all. He’s seen crying and attempting to run toward the bus to be with his brothers.

“I remember it to this day, it’s a core memory for me. I was going into second grade and you know my brother, Tyler, who was the center of attention, was going into kindergarten. It was the first time Logan, who you see crying, was going to be without one of his brothers. We were going to Bear Lake Elementary School in Seminole County. He was very upset,” Justin said.

Justin Warmoth boards school bus for the first day of second grade. (Copyright 2022 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

Logan was 2 years old at the time and wanted to tag along, according to Justin. He even brought his own backpack. While the bus drove off, mom had to take hold of him to make sure he didn’t chase the bus all the way to school to be with his brothers.

But the action didn’t start there. Before Justin even boarded the school bus, he tried to take the family cat with him.

“That’s Griffy, my cat that I got two weeks before school. I loved Griffy, so I wanted him to come. I put him in my new backpack. He didn’t like it so he peed in my new bag all over my folders and my parents had to bring back the old backpack. I’ll never forget that, brings back some good memories,” Justin said.

In the video, you can see Justin holding his cat, Griffy, as he waits for the bus to arrive. (Griffy waited patiently at home for the rest of the day).

Patiently, because Justin didn’t make it back home on the bus.

“Before going to school my folks told me, ‘watch your brother, make sure he gets on the bus coming home’ because it was his first time riding the bus. I was doing just that and I missed the bus. Tyler made the bus and I missed the bus looking for him at school,” Justin said. “He was doing just fine on his first day. Was probably the first one on the bus. My dad has video of my brother coming off the bus at the end of the day and you can hear one of the students coming off the bus saying ‘Justin missed the bus.’”

Justin’s parents had to drive to the school to pick him up.

As school starts up again in Central Florida, we want to hear all about your experiences. You can share photos and videos with a short description on our Pins page. Your photos and videos may end up on air during our newscasts.

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About the Author

Crystal Moyer is a morning news anchor who joined the News 6 team in 2020.

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