As the month of August ends, September starts and Attendance Awareness Month kicks off. Attendance Awareness Month is the month schools will focus on trying to get students to school and class on time.
Teachers and staff hope that committing to this attendance awareness month campaign can help students get to class on time and have fewer tardies in the attendance column. The school has also said students who go the whole month without a tardy will receive a prize/reward.
“There is the intrinsic reward of personal satisfaction, pride, and an accomplished feeling for getting to classes and getting there on time, “Assistant Principal Samantha Ballard said. “If that doesn’t do it for some students, I know Mr. Lundgren and his team are working on some campaigns to further motivate students.”
Being on time to class is very important for students because it sets them up for class and gets them ready to learn. Studies done by “The Journal of Education and Practice” show that students who are late to school and class tend to have worse test scores and also tend to be less engaged in class activities and discussions.
“I think September Perfect Attendance Month will be successful,” science teacher Parker Lowe said. “After September, students will realize there are quality rewards for being present and on time to class. In addition, I think tardiness will decrease due to students being externally motivated to be on time. However, I believe the same students that are consistently tardy will still be tardy.”
Attendance Awareness Month began in September of 2013. Since 2013 over 97 organizations have worked in partnership to spread the awareness of being on time to class. Many schools across the country participate in this campaign every year. Schools say that participating in this campaign has helped students know why it is important to be on time for class and school.
“Since we are participating in attendance awareness month, I think it will help communicate that this is a focus for our building and teachers,” Assistant Principal Casey Lundgren said. “Most students do really well with attendance and some can do better and try to make it a priority. If we can get everybody to show up on time there would be much less distractions and students would be more involved in class.”
With Attendance Awareness Month beginning we will see how much students really change the time they arrive at school and class.
