SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Sometimes going to classes can seem boring, however having good attendance at O’Gorman high school can get you eligible to win a car.
“Each time a student has perfect attendance for that month, they get their name added. So a student has nine opportunities to get their name put in the drawing. So again, we know that there might be a legitimate reason why a student has gone from school, and that will eliminate that student from being in the drawing that month. But then when you turn the calendar to the next month, they have a fresh start,” Assistant Principal, Alex Anderson said.
Last school year, Senior Nate Bathke won the car, but the school won with how well the Attendance Matters campaign worked.
“Why would you reward a student for doing what they should already be doing, right? Like it’s an expectation that students come to school. But I think if we take a step back, there’s incentives in pretty much everything we do,” Anderson said.
Along with the car, O’Gorman also has other monthly incentives to encourage kids to attend class.
“Obviously we have a dress code here at O’Gorman, so we could offer some things like dress-down days. We also try to incentivize it with some class parties and open campus,” Anderson said.
Incentives that have students doing their best to have perfect attendance.
“I definitely want to come more often because before it seemed like you’ve just skipped school with no consequences. And now I’m able to come, like, with something that could possibly be positive in the future,” O’Gorman Senior Lauren Meyer said.
Even the students see improvement in their classmates’ attendance.
“We use to get called out, like, all the time just for, like, lunch and like classes we didn’t really go to and study halls and stuff. And so it definitely like encourages people to come because they want to make sure they’re like on time for all their other classes and they’re staying the whole day,” Meyer said.
Giving students a ‘wheely’ good reason to go to class.
O’Gorman’s assistant principal says they understand that students have legitimate reasons to miss school, and this campaign is a way to help cut out unnecessary absences.
