5th-grader to be honored for 5 years of perfect attendance
"She is such a hard worker and she wants to be here," said principal Cary Davis.
— -- A fifth-grade student is being honored for never missing a day of class at her elementary school.
Tracelyn Strand, 11, has had perfect attendance at General Beadle Elementary School in Rapid City, South Dakota, since she was in first grade.
"She's a dual-sport athlete. She plays basketball and softball," her dad, Trent Strand, told ABC News. "She knows you have to have good attendance to stay on teams. It's also her love for school ... She loves to be there. I think a lot of it too are the great teachers that school has."
Tracelyn became motivated after principal Cary Davis launched an initiative to increase student attendance in 2012.
"Every year, she's worked really hard to do this and be part of this incentive," Davis told ABC News. "She is a go-getter. She is such a hard worker, and she wants to be here. She is one of the top students in her class."
She continued, "I wanted [the kids] to know how important I thought it was for them to be her in those seats and getting what they need to be successful."
Students could have "perfect, perfect" attendance and "nearly perfect" attendance. Students with "nearly perfect" attendance are those who have had no more than three absences, Davis explained.
Students who end the school year with no tardy or missed days receive "perfect, perfect" attendance and are awarded a bicycle.
This year, 45 students will receive a bike.
Tracelyn previously received a bicycle, a Kindle Fire and gift cards; this year she will be honored with a different reward.
"She's very humble," Strand said of his daughter. "She doesn't go around and brag. She just wants to show kids that it can be done. She's rubbing off [on] her sister [who is] in third grade and working on her second year of perfect attendance."
Tracelyn's fifth year of perfect attendance will be recognized at her school's year-end awards ceremony on May 26.
She hopes to continue her streak thorough middle school and high school, her father said.
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