A new program at Clearwater Elementary encourages students to attend school ready to learn each day.
Attendance H.E.R.O. asks students to be Here Every day Ready and On Time, said school counselor Kayla Myers. Students with perfect attendance receive a reward at the close of each month.
More than 160 students had perfect attendance in September, Myers said.
"Clearwater Elementary takes the issue of student attendance very seriously and this year we are excited about the idea of encouraging each of our students to be an Attendance H.E.R.O.," she said.
The state sets a goal of 90 percent of students attending 90 percent of the time, tracking this information on annual school report cards. Clearwater Elementary was at almost 89 percent in 2017, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The September H.E.R.O.s were rewarded with visits from the heros of Clearwater Ambulance, Piedmont Fire Department, Wayne County Sheriff's Department, Missouri State Highway Patrol and City of Piedmont Police Department, Myers said.
"(They) volunteered their time to let our Attendance H.E.R.O.'s of the month experience a ride in their emergency vehicles," Myers said. "The students had the opportunity to ride in the ambulance, fire truck or police car, learn a bit about what exactly these heroes do on a daily basis and hear from these men about how important attendance is."
The event was held last week, with early childhood, kindergarten and first grade students taking a ride in a fire truck and second, third and fourth grade students offered a ride in either a police cruiser or ambulance.
A second reward day with a movie and popcorn is planned for the first week of November.
"We greatly appreciated the generosity of the policemen, firemen and EMTs who volunteered their time for our students. The students loved meeting our local heroes," Myers said.