On the morning of the second day of March, the hallways at PS 36 in Harlem were humming with excitement and more children aged 3-12 eagerly made their way to class, than a year prior. This was because of a new incentive to be in school and on time this winter month, a challenge created and implemented by Ginelle Wynter, the Senior Site Manager of Children’s Health Fund’s Healthy and Ready to Learn Program at PS 36.
Missing school risks future opportunities
Too many students are “chronically absent,” which is identified as missing 19 or more days (one month) of school per year, or two days per month. In fact, chronic absenteeism is a major obstacle that children face. Every day a child is not in school, he or she becomes more at risk of falling behind academically, receiving lower test scores, and repeating a grade. March is identified by Ms. Wynter as an especially difficult month for attendance. “Historically, March is a low attendance month because there are no days off. It doesn’t help that the weather is extremely unpredictable.”
“Attendance is a huge factor in academic success. When kids are present and paying attention in class their futures look brighter.”
Ginelle Wynter
As a result, Ms. Wynter came up with a never before tried challenge, titled “March Madness,” aimed to improve attendance by promoting a friendly competition between classes using the hype of the ever-popular, culturally relevant college basketball tournament. The idea was to have groups of students work together to hold each other accountable for being present and in their seats each morning. Students could be heard outside of their classrooms chanting “March Madness, March Madness,” after the weekly rankings were shared during the morning announcements. This rallying around high attendance rates made the school environment extremely cheerful!
“Attendance is a huge factor in academic success,” says Ms. Wynter. “When kids are present and paying attention in class their futures look brighter.”
The class that had the highest attendance percentage per grade won a pizza party. The class that had the highest attendance percentage in the whole school won a trophy. These treats, and the special shout outs the classes received during the morning announcements, helped to increase morale during the cold month.
The attendance rate in March this year reached 91%, and a record number of students had perfect attendance throughout the whole month. The numbers show that with a little innovation and a lot of inspiration, commitment to change can happen because with a record number of children being present in the classroom comes a record number of children ready to learn.
