Ready Now Yuma
“Yeah, I’m really surprised that I was chosen. There are plenty of students at Yuma High that really represent this school itself.”
Dallas Dorries, a student at Yuma High is one of 12 faces you may see when driving in town in Yuma. He along with 11 other High School seniors were chosen to represent their school in this year’s “Ready Now Yuma” campaign.
“Ready Now Yuma billboard campaign is something we’ve done for the last four years and it’s a selection process of 12 students, six boys and six girls from our six campuses in the district. They have to be seniors and they have to be on track to graduate,” said Communications Director Eric Patten.
The main objective to this initiative is that every student will be career and college ready by the time they leave High School. Regardless of whether the student attends college or not, the Ready Now Yuma campaign strives to take care of it’s students and gives them the best tools possible to succeed. Patten explains how this year’s campaign is different from the rest.
“This is the first time we have had two students featured on the same billboard with the school logo. If you’re driving around town and you see your alma mater logo or you see the boy and the girl from those campuses, it’s the first time we’ve done it that way. One of the things we were looking for were students that had a little bit of a story to tell. Whether it was something they had overcome or some grand ambitions in their lives,” said Patten.
Students like Dallas who overcame adversity when he started high school has now finally come into his own.
“To me, it really shows that I pretty much improved on my social aspect. You know being represented through this school,” said Dallas.
Dallas as an example wants to go into the air force. He’s going to attend AWC after he graduates in a couple of weeks and he had overcome really a social anxiety,” said Patten.
These billboards will be up for the majority of summer and Patten says he already has soon to be seniors lined up that want to be the face featured on the next “Ready Yuma Now” billboard.
2018 RNY Billboard Students:
Edgar Melendrez Alvarado, CHS
Emma Stewart, CHS
Valeria Carrera, GRHS
Ryleigh North, GRHS
Michael Jaso, KHS
Rebeca Acevedo Barboza, KHS
Magdalena Robles, SLHS
Agustin Padilla, SLHS
Isaiah Joya, VAHS
Aleaya Marie Cornwell Bates, VAHS
Dallas Dorries, YHS
Jayna Owens, YHS
Billboard Locations:
Cibola High School: Southbound Avenue B and 8th Street
Gila Ridge High School: Eastbound Interstate 8 and Araby Road
Kofa High School: Westbound 32nd Street and 8th Avenue
San Luis High School: Southbound Highway 95 near Gadsden
Vista Alternative High School: Southbound Pacific Avenue and 24th Street
Yuma High School: Westbound 16th Street and Arizona Avenue
