Twins share excitement of first day as second graders

Monday is the first day of school for students all over Maricopa. Brand new shoes and backpacks filled with the required school supplies are laid out and ready to go. For twins, Martina and Matea Ljubovic, it’s an especially exciting day–the beginning of second grade at Pima Butte Elementary School.

Although not identical (Martina is blonde, and Matea has brown hair), the twins share similar ideas and a great deal of excitement about the coming school year.

Asked what would be different in second grade than in first grade, the girls replied:

“You learn harder stuff, and you have more responsibility,” said Martina.

“You have to use your brain and work harder,” added Matea.

The girls are happy to be in the same room with each other and their teacher Miss Palmer. “We like to be together more, and, oh, we have a new principal, too – Mr. Montoya,” Matea noted.

“It’s so much better when we’re together,” Martina shared, then Matea listed the names of all the friends they couldn’t wait to see.

In addition to choral music, art, library and computer time, they will study reading, social studies and math.

“I hope I don’t use my fingers for math this year,” Martina said. Matea added that their friend uses her fingers to count, but she hides them behind her back. They both agreed that now that they’ve been doing addition and subtraction with more and more numbers, there just aren’t enough fingers to use.

Martina likes “everything” about school, but particularly math. Matea likes reading the best, and she reads all the time at home.

The girls are bilingual; they speak both English and Croatian, thanks to their parents’ European heritage. In fact, their father often reminds them of the saying that hung on the wall of his elementary school in Croatia–‘Knowledge is power.’ “We try to teach the girls that material things can be lost, but knowledge is with you forever,” said Damir Ljubovic.

Martina and Matea are especially looking forward to Spirit Days on Fridays. “You get to wear a gold shirt, and the teachers count how many kids in their class have them, and if you have the most then you get to put a sign on the door that says you have the most spirit,” explained Martina. Smoothies are also high on her list of good things at school. Matea likes having buddies.

Not only are the Ljubovic girls classmates and best friends, but they often echo each other’s thoughts. Showing off their new tennis shoes, Martina explained they really wanted hot pink ones, but their mother (Diana) didn’t think hot pink would go with everything.

“So,” Matea added, “We found these at the third Mervyn’s we went to, and they’re black so they go with everything.”

Martina and Matea are ready for school with new shoes, uniforms and new backpacks, one pink and one blue. They can’t wait to see their friends and start learning more things.

Without a doubt the Ljubovic twins will find the first day of second grade exciting times two!

Photos by Joyce Hollis