In honor of September being Attendance Awareness Month, the Solano County Office of Education (SCOE) is working to make sure students show up to school as much as they possibly can. The way it has opted to raise that awareness is by allowing students to be creative with how they get that message out.

Once again, SCOE is hosting a countywide poster contest for K-12 students in all of Solano’s school districts aimed at promoting regular attendance throughout their school careers.

Terri Myles, SCOE’s school attendance liaison, says the message is geared toward not only students but their parents as well.

“The issue starts as early as kindergarten,” she said. “Most parents don’t know how important it is for children of that age to attend school regularly and on time every day, and they miss a lot of instruction. The more instruction they miss, the more they get behind, and it’s like a snowball. By the time they’re in seventh or eighth grade, they’ve missed so much school that the graduation rate becomes really poor.”

A student who misses about 10 percent of the school year— roughly 18 days— is described as being “chronically absent.” According to a study by California-based organization Attendance Works, students who are chronically absent throughout kindergarten and first grade are less likely to be proficient readers by third grade. Likewise, chronic absence by sixth grade is a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school, and poor attendance by third grade can indicate whether a student is in danger of being held back. A study by Johns Hopkins University’s Everyone Graduates Center indicated that between 5 million and 7.5 million students are estimated to have missed nearly a month of school each year.

“It’s a national problem,” Myles said.

However, she said attendance rates at Solano schools have improved since SCOE began doing its contest.

In addition to the poster contest, students will also have the opportunity to create a public service announcement on the subject, and new this year will be a T-shirt contest.

“They can put a slogan on draft paper, and the winners will have that slogan printed on a T-shirt,” Myles said.

Myles encourages students to get creative with their entries.

“We want them to focus on how important it is to attend school every day on time,” she said. “If we get a poster with just a picture of some kids sitting at a desk in a school, it’s not gonna be looked at the same as one that has a slogan on it.”

Entries must be addressed “Attention: Terri Myles” to Golden Hills Education Center, Building No. 5, 2460 Clay Bank Road, Fairfield, CA 94533” and be submitted no later than Friday, Sept. 30. The winners will be announced at district board meetings in late October, and prizes include passes to California’s Great America and Pier 39, as well as discounts for bowling parties and pizza places.

For more information, please contact Myles at 399-4832.

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