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Irregular News for 12.07.05
If the love of learning, the threat of detention and the possibility of prosecution aren't enough to make kids go to school, maybe this will help: The Natrona County School District will raffle off gas cards and a new pickup this year to students with good attendance.
The new pickup, donated by White's Mountain Motors, will be given away in May to one high school student, and $50 gas cards also will be raffled off monthly at each high school in the district, White's Mountain owner Trace Swisher announced this week.
To be eligible for the gas card and pickup drawings, students cannot have any truancies, suspensions or home-bound periods on their record between Oct. 31 and May 19. Students from Natrona County and Midwest high schools can miss up to 15 class periods during the year, and those from Kelly Walsh and Roosevelt can miss up to nine class periods -- the equivalent of less than two days at each school -- for legitimate reasons and still remain eligible.
"As an employer, it's difficult to find qualified people who have an education," Swisher told the district's board of trustees Monday. "The first part of education is going to school."
The incentive program is a new approach for the district in the battle against truancy, but the importance of attendance has been on the agenda for more than a year.
Last fall, the district hired Gary Somerville, a former campus supervisor, to fill the new position of attendance officer. Since then, the district has taken a hard-line stance on chronic absenteeism among students, instituting several intervention opportunities when attendance starts to be a problem and even pursuing prosecution for truancy and educational neglect.
School board member Linda Nix said she believes the attention to attendance is "incredibly important."
"We need to have them there so we can teach them," she said.
Superintendent Jim Lowham added that while the pickup is a great incentive, the gas cards might do even more.
"As much as the truck is worth, the incentive every month gives us an opportunity to talk about attendance every month," he said to Swisher. "We greatly appreciate you putting attendance on the public agenda."
Full Story
If the love of learning, the threat of detention and the possibility of prosecution aren't enough to make kids go to school, maybe this will help: The Natrona County School District will raffle off gas cards and a new pickup this year to students with good attendance.
The new pickup, donated by White's Mountain Motors, will be given away in May to one high school student, and $50 gas cards also will be raffled off monthly at each high school in the district, White's Mountain owner Trace Swisher announced this week.
To be eligible for the gas card and pickup drawings, students cannot have any truancies, suspensions or home-bound periods on their record between Oct. 31 and May 19. Students from Natrona County and Midwest high schools can miss up to 15 class periods during the year, and those from Kelly Walsh and Roosevelt can miss up to nine class periods -- the equivalent of less than two days at each school -- for legitimate reasons and still remain eligible.
"As an employer, it's difficult to find qualified people who have an education," Swisher told the district's board of trustees Monday. "The first part of education is going to school."
The incentive program is a new approach for the district in the battle against truancy, but the importance of attendance has been on the agenda for more than a year.
Last fall, the district hired Gary Somerville, a former campus supervisor, to fill the new position of attendance officer. Since then, the district has taken a hard-line stance on chronic absenteeism among students, instituting several intervention opportunities when attendance starts to be a problem and even pursuing prosecution for truancy and educational neglect.
School board member Linda Nix said she believes the attention to attendance is "incredibly important."
"We need to have them there so we can teach them," she said.
Superintendent Jim Lowham added that while the pickup is a great incentive, the gas cards might do even more.
"As much as the truck is worth, the incentive every month gives us an opportunity to talk about attendance every month," he said to Swisher. "We greatly appreciate you putting attendance on the public agenda."
Full Story
