A Pizza Party For Perfect Attendance

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

Moapa Valley High School students who make it a priority to be in their seats and ready to learn every day were recently rewarded with more than just good grades. Dr. James Lake, the dean at MVHS, has been stressing to students the importance of being in class and on time since he began at the school earlier this year. He decided that it was time that the kids who actually put forth the effort to be in school every day were rewarded.

Last week Dr. Lake treated all the kids who had achieved perfect attendance for the third quarter to a pizza party. The party included soda, cookies, and all the pizza the students could eat.

A total of 66 students turned out to be eligible for the reward. This was impressive, Lake said. “This school has really amazing students,” he said. “I’ve never had this many kids qualify for an attendance award like this and I’ve been at schools with 2800 kids, let alone 500.”

Lake said he had been expecting maybe 12 or 15 students being eligible; or 20 at the most. He said that he was “completely blown away” when he heard there were that many. “It really goes to show the dedication of our kids,” he said.

Of course, scheduling a day when all the kids could be there proved impossible. With many school activities going on last week, some were away on school trips and other things and were unable to attend. Still, the kids who were there thought the treat was great.

The party was held at the end of the school day. Kids who qualified were let out of class a half hour early to attend. As they enjoyed their pizza, Lake made it a point to go around and talk to each of them, personally thank them for their efforts.

Sophomore Dallin Turner thought getting pizza for going to school was fantastic. “I think this party is absolutely magnificent because we get free food,” he said. “I come to school every day because I want to get a good education so this is just icing on the cake.”

On the other hand, fellow sophomore Bryton Westwood thought the funniest thing was the irony of getting out of class early as a reward for going to class.
“I think it’s so funny that we get out of class because we had perfect attendance,” Westwood said. “It’s so great.”

Junior Weston Mortensen liked the idea. “Getting rewarded like this definitely makes it worth coming to school for.”

Even administrators and school personnel were excited about the event. Attendance Specialist and Dean’s secretary Mary Ann Kimmel said, “I think that recognizing kids that get up and come to school every day is wonderful.”
“Kids who come every day show they are responsible and take pride in their school,” Lake concluded.

“Plus, it’s really important that kids are in class and on time. It teaches them responsibility that will carry over into college or onto the job site and throughout their adult lives.”

Full List of Perfect Attendees:
Amber Ables, Laura Adams, Zachary Bailey, Luke Barlow, Emilie Barraza, Blake Bush, Savanna Carson, Jorge Cervantes-Andrade, Joshua Cox, Alexander Dreyfus, Abigail Dursteler, Logan Gollahan, Joseph Gould, Emma Harding, Camille Hardy, Andalin Hillstead, Sierra Holzer, Samuel Jolley, Analise Jorgensen, Elizabeth Jorgensen, Celeste Jorgensen, Mackenzie Kephart, Brittnee Leavitt, Emily Leigh, Annabel Lounsbury, Reanna Lyon, Mitchell Lyon, Kayla Lyon, Phylene Marquez, Shyanne Matheson, Ryan McMurray, Lane Miller, Caleb Moreno, Gustavo Moreno, Weston Mortensen, Daesy Parra, Jasmine Parra, Henry Patino, Payten Peluaga, Ashlyn Peters, Aleczander Petersen, Andun Pratt, Sierra Reel, Ivan Reel, Abigail Robison, Rita Rodgers, Cody Ruff, Maximus Shambaugh, Elayna Sosa, Jerrick Stastny, Allyson Stewart, Mackenzie Thompson, Emma Thompson, Rylin Tobler, Carson Traasdahl, Dallin Turner, Kayla Walters, Brylee Watkins, Hannah Watson, Bryton Westwood, Averee Widdison, Faith Witter, Madison Wolfley, Alissa Wolfley, Hunter Wrzesinski, Zoe Zubia.