Attendance has become a rising concern for high schools. Students have started to attend class less, whether it would be skipping class or outright miss school unexcused.
This becomes a detriment to these students, but a challenge proposed by the high school seeks to encourage students to attend classes more frequently.
“I think attendance is important,” Trista Bailey, administrative intern, said. “Not only just academically, but also socially, just being around other people and students. I know that there are some assignments that can be done online, but I do not think it replaces face-to-face interactions with teachers and students.”
Presence Pays is a monthly challenge for the high school during March. The goal is to improve attendance rates for the high school students.
“They are actually getting better from the beginning of the school year to now,” Bailey said. “In comparing our attendance rates this year to last year, we can tell that our focus on attendance has made a difference.”
Presence Pays challenges students to attend their classes with consistency. For the month of March, students with a 90% attendance rate or better will be given a chance to win a prize.
“From March 1st to March 27th, anyone that has 90% attendance or better would be entered into a drawing to win one of three prizes,” Bailey said.
An absence can be counted in two ways. Firstly, it counts excused absences like a doctor’s note or being out of town. An unexcused absence is also counted. This includes all school hours from zero to eighth hour and absences marked as “No Count” or for school activities do not count towards the challenge.
Students can win three possible prizes. Firstly, students can get a “free” prom ticket, being reimbursed the amount paid for their tickets.
The other two prizes are “VIP” prizes. Students can enjoy VIP parking for an entire month at the front of the school or they can experience a VIP lunch catered and provided by the principals.
“I hope that our focus on attendance has been helpful as far as getting more students to come to school and want to be here,” Bailey said.
The Presence Pays challenge rewards students for their efforts to maintain consistent attendance, and results have demonstrated success.
“I have not seen the final numbers yet, but I will say that this challenge, along with the one that we did in the fall with tardies, has made people more aware of where to go to check their attendance”
Attendance is slowly deteriorating. Challenges like the high school’s Presence Pays creates accountability for students while encouraging them to strive to improve their abilities to show up to class.
