faces&places

A8  PALO VERDE VALLeY TIMES, Wednesday, August 23, 2017

PVUSD’s students first week back to school

Last week was back to school for faculty, staff and students of the Palo Verde Unified School District. Setting the tone for an incredible school year to come,
students spent the first week of school doing icebreakers, getting important papers signed by parents, catching up with old friends on the playground and
listening as their teachers went over expectations for learning and following classroom rules. Visiting Felix J. Appleby, Margaret White and Ruth Brown
Elementary schools on Friday, the Times caught up with these students to hear about their first impression of a new school year.

ABOVE: Basketball is life when it comes to ending the first week of school on the court, shooting hoops before dismissal. Max
Johnson, Christian Soto, Gustavo Soto, Nick Garcia, Emilio Gonzalez and Andrew Rubalcalva said everything was so far so good.
RIGHT: Jess Flores said getting through school this year will be a piece of cake. Enjoying the monkey bars, Flores can’t wait to
swing into his high school years.

ABOVE LEFT: Everything she does is with love and care, and most important is the safety of the children. Arriving to school sites
on time, bus driver Kelli Ainsworth awaits in the Felix J. Appleby Elementary School parking lot for her students to climb aboard.
LEFT: Sisters Danna and Alyssa Mejia, who attend Ruth Brown Elementary were happy that school started on Wednesday. They
each said they were ready for it and had a good time on Friday after dismissal. BELOW LEFT: Margaret White Elementary students
Ezekiel Lopez, Natalie Sanchez, Uriah Rivas and Quan Carlos were said to be off to a great start after a brief short week at school.
As family friends, they know they’ll do good if they just stick together. BELOW RIGHT: The Varela and Maldonado boys were
excited about finally retiring for the week and getting picked up by their mom. Although school was fun, going home to play with
each other is even better. ABOVE RIGHT: Ruth Brown Elementary School’s crossing guard Mr. Peters after spending a hot twenty
minutes directing student traffic.

PHOTOS BY CATHYLEEN
RICE/PALO VERDE
VALLEY TIMES

LEFT: The first week

of school went quite
well for Christian
Navarro. Happily
heading home after
a long Friday day
spent at Ruth Brown
Elementary, the
Golden State Warriors’
fan was excited for
another school year.
RIGHT: Seventh grade
wouldn’t be fun for
these girls, if it wasn’t
shared with a group of
friends to get through
it with. Although, it
was only day three of
school, the group had
their priorities in order
— focus on school
first, then friendship
and fashion.