Though schools around the globe have different start dates, calendars and traditions, the first day of a new term is an exciting time filled with the prospects of gaining more knowledge, making new friends and building community. Here: Schoolchildren attend their first lesson on Knowledge Day in the town of Turov, Zhytkavichy District, Gomel Region, Belarus on September 1, 2017. Knowledge Day marks the beginning of a new school year in Belarus and is celebrated on September 1. (Photo by Viktor Drachev/TASS via Getty Images)

A member of the Africa Roho Msalaba church throws a 2 month old baby into the air during the “Throwing babies into the air” ritual in Kibera Slum of Nairobi, Kenya on March 10, 2024. The babies of the members of the Africa Roho Msalaba church, who are not taken out of the house until they are 2 months old and are not allowed to be seen by strangers, are introduced to the community by being paraded through the streets with the 'throwing babies in the air' ritual. (Photo by Edwin Ndeke/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A Palestinian girl cries as she stands above debris near a house that was hit during Israeli strikes in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 2, 2025. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on April 2, a major expansion of military operations in Hamas-run Gaza, saying the army would seize “large areas” of the Palestinian territory. (Photo by Eyad Baba/AFP Photo)

This photo provided by Jiji Press shows a Japan Airlines plane on fire on a runway of Tokyo's Haneda Airport on January 2, 2024. A Japan Airlines plane was in flames on the runway of Tokyo's Haneda Airport on January 2 after apparently colliding with a coast guard aircraft, television reports said. (Photo by JIJI Press/AFP Photo)

A female body builder prepares backstage to participate in the first national Miss Saraighat Body Building Championship in Gauhati, northeastern Assam state, India, Saturday, April 2, 2022. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

In this picture taken on August 1, 2022, a priest performs a ritual on a newly purchased car to seek blessings from the deities for safety outside a temple in Bangalore. (Photo by Sebastien Berger/AFP Photo)

Traditional “Tantawawas” bread shaped like children sit on a grave as a Day of the Dead offering at the Villa Ingenio cemetery in El Alto, Bolivia, Monday, November 2, 2020. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

People dance during New Year's celebrations in downtown St. Petersburg, Russia, early Sunday, Januaru 1, 2023. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)