Perfect attendance

Students rewarded for getting to class

Colton Crandall's academic attendance record is spotless.

Granted, he has only just completed the first grade. But after two years at Canyon Elementary, Crandall has yet to miss a day.

He, classmate Brandon Rudroff and third-grader Rickey Putnam were honored during Canyon's recent last-day-of-school assembly for being in school every day of the 2006-2007 school year. After calling the boys up front, Principal Brenda Hoerner asked Crandall to comment on his perfect attendance.

"Has being in school paid off?" Principal Brenda Hoerner asked Crandall.

When he nodded, she asked him why.

"Because it's fun," he said.

"Anything else?"

Crandall thought a moment, then shook his head.

Hoerner laughed; Crandall's perfect attendance was about to pay off in a big way.

He, Rudroff and Putnam had already received bikes for never missing a day during the first trimester. Because they carried that spotless record throughout the entire year, each boy received a four-person family pass to Big Sky Waterpark, a four-person pass to Raceway Park, and gift certificates at Sportsman & Ski Haus, Wal-Mart and the Huckleberry Patch.

The boys' eyes grew wider with each item they received. When Hoerner told them they'd each won more than $260 worth of prizes, Crandall grinned.

"Sweet!" he mouthed to his classmates.

The prizes - including the bikes they'd won earlier in the year - were all donations from local businesses and individuals. Countless people contributed to Canyon's perfect-attendance awards, but they are primarily the result of one man's desire to do something nice for the elementary students.

It wasn't a new desire; a few years ago, Lincoln Cheetham supplied the school with $400 worth of pumpkins for Halloween. As far as the kids were concerned, his gift was a rousing success. They loved having pumpkins of their own to carve and decorate at school.

Staff members appreciated the gesture, too, but were less than crazy about the jack-o-lanterns' lingering aroma.

"The whole place smelled like a giant pumpkin," Cheetham said, grinning.

He began searching for a less-pungent way to support the school where his children, Samantha, 9, and Wyatt, 7, attend. His aunt, a professor at Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, Ind., suggested rewarding kids with perfect attendance, since school funding is largely based on the number of children in school.

Cheetham immediately latched on to the idea and soon came up with the perfect prize. In November 2006, the school's first trimester was nearly over when he told Principal Brenda Hoerner he wanted to buy a bike for each student with perfect attendance.

She agreed, and Cheetham asked how many bikes he'd need to buy. Three? Four?

Try 21.

It was a staggering number, but Cheetham was undaunted. He began asking businesses and families around the valley to donate money and quickly got results.

"We got every penny for those bikes between Thanksgiving and Christmas," he said.

But that was only the first trimester; there were still two to go and bound to be many more bikes to buy.

He asked more families and more businesses to give money. Some donated enough for several bikes. Some picked out the bikes themselves.

Everyone, Cheetham said, was willing to help.

"It's done a lot for the community," he said. "People want to help, but they're so freakin' busy.

"People have been more than willing. It's pretty cool, really."

A flu epidemic kept many students out of school during the second trimester. Cheetham picked out seven bikes for kids who were there each day; three children who'd received bicycles the previous trimester were awarded Wal-Mart gift cards.

"There was some concern that kids might show up sick to win a bike and end up infecting everyone," Cheetham said. "It really wasn't a problem. They did the right thing."

He needed 16 bikes for the final trimester. It didn't take long to get those, so Cheetham decided to take care of the students at West Glacier Elementary as well.

"I found out they had four kids with perfect attendance," he said. "It took about 45 minutes to get money for them."

After that success, he decided to do the same for Ruder Elementary. He had bikes for the school's five spotless records by the end of May.

Cheetham guesses he's raised at least $5,000 for bikes and gift cards this year. It might have been cheaper to wait to award only those students who made it all year - but he didn't want to wait that long.

"I'm kind of impulsive," he said. "I want to do something right now."

By giving students a tangible goal, he's helped convince Canyon students they need to be in class. Now kids ask their parents to schedule dentist's and doctor's appointments during holidays or after school. They won't come if they're sick, but little else can keep kids from their desks.

"It helps them take responsibility for what they're doing, which is kind of neat," Cheetham said.

Hoerner reiterated their commitment during the final assembly.

"Are you going to miss two days of school?" she asked the school.

"No!" they shouted back.

"Are you going to miss one day of school?"

"No!"

"Are you going to miss two hours of school?"

"No!"

"Are you going to be there every day you can?"

"Yes!"

Cheetham grinned watching them.

"It's been a pretty cool thing all the way around," he said.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com