GRANADA HILLS : Game Aims to Lure Students to Class

To convince students that attendance is serious business, John F. Kennedy High School administrators are making it into a game.

It’s called “Attendo,” and for students who frequently skip school the rules might be easier to learn than to follow.

Every two weeks, starting Oct. 29, administrators will place the names of students with perfect attendance records into a barrel. One name will be picked, and the winning student will receive a gift certificate donated by a local restaurant or store and a total of $20 in cash from the school’s five administrators.

The idea for “Attendo” comes as administrators at Kennedy and nearly every other high school in the Valley seek creative ways to get students to school every day, aiming for the district goal of a 95% average attendance rate by 1994. Last year, students attended district high schools an average of 82.5% of the time.

In addition to “Attendo,” Kennedy initiated two other attendance programs this year. One requires seniors to be in attendance 90% of the time to walk across the stage at graduation. The other allows teachers to fail any student who misses more than 20 days in a semester.