Coleman marks last day with student prizes
By Marcus Clem
The end of classes for the school year saw four lucky children with good attendance each receive a free bicycle on Wednesday.
Coleman Elementary had students gather in the gym ahead of annual Field Day activities to celebrate those who have met the “Strive for Five” standard. Each child so honored is on track to finish the 2023-24 year with fewer than five equivalent class days missed — time in class is tracked hour by hour, for a total of more than 1,145 scheduled hours.
Four students in good standing had their names randomly drawn, with each then presented with a free bicycle: first graders Peniel Egloh and Ebenezer “Ben” Kritikos, fifth grader Kyden Etchells-Crowe and sixth grader Natalina Ali. Egloh said she hopes this event will help encourage a friend who has persistently been absent from school.
“I want to tell her that school is great,” Egloh said. “That she can come to school whenever, whatever time she needed and whatever time she wanted to come to school. But, and then, I want to tell her that school is gonna finish.”
Joe DuFrain, a Coleman Elementary attendance interventionist, organized the giveaway.
“We share these ideas as part of a group with Dr. (Kendra) Lau,” DuFrain said, referring to the administrator who leads the Strive for Five program. “I just try to pick and choose what might be helpful.”
Principal Heather Gladhart, who is in her last year in charge of Coleman ahead of her planned move to Pickett Elementary next year, has presided over one of the attendance success stories in the district, with each month posting a rate of 85% satisfactory attendance or higher. As it has been with the district as a whole, and many peer agencies across the state, the 90% standard of success has thus far remained out of reach. May numbers, when they are published next month, will ultimately indicate how close to the goal everyone has come.
“Prior to COVID, we had been showing some really positive gains with attendance,” Gladhart said. “That’s something we have been working hard to get back to since then … Last month, every grade showed an increase in April. We’re really excited to see what the numbers will be at the end of the year.”
