The Memphis Grizzlies, Shelby County Schools and Seeding Success are partnering for a second year for the county-wide attendance awareness campaign, RePresent. Every Day, which sets out to reduce Shelby County’s chronic absenteeism issue. The campaign proved effective in its inaugural year in 2015, but there were still 29,000 students in Shelby County Schools who were chronically absent – defined as missing 18 or more school days in a school year. Together, the Grizzlies and their campaign stakeholders seek to reduce the rate of chronic absenteeism by 25 percent at 10 “high need” target schools. Nationally, September is designated as Attendance Awareness Month.
The campaign will officially tip-off with a press conference on Thursday, Sept. 1 at 6:30 a.m. with SCS Superintendent Dorsey Hopson and Memphis Grizzlies Director of Player Support and Chairman of the Grizzlies Foundation Board Elliot Perry at A. Maceo Walker Middle School (1900 E. Raines Road). In addition, members of various Grizzlies Entertainment teams will be on-hand to help tip-off the celebration and offer encouragement to the students. A. Maceo Walker Middle School was selected as the host site for the campaign tip-off after they raised their attendance by two percent last year using innovative ideas to increase attendance. Working independently, A. Maceo Walker Middle School Principal Dr. Brittenum and his staff formulated incentives, measures and plans to motivate their students to attend school through the use of parent and student surveys, a school-organized “attendance task force” and certified letters to parents of at-risk youth.
“We are excited to continue our commitment as a team and as an organization to this effort,” said Diane Terrell, vice president of community engagement and executive director of the Memphis Grizzlies Foundation. “Showing up is a critical first step in personal success. If you’re there, you have a chance, a real opportunity to learn and excel. That’s what we want for every child.”
The campaign and its stakeholders have selected 10 target schools labeled as “high need” with respect to absentee rates. Equipped with different strengths, each stakeholder has a definite task in the fight to end chronic absenteeism: The Grizzlies will provide messaging, incentives and rewards including game tickets, Grizzlies swag, backpacks and autographed memorabilia, with Grizzlies guard Tony Allen serving again as the voice and face of the campaign; Seeding Success will continue to supply the massive amounts of data to the districts and schools; and Shelby County Schools will bridge the gap by aligning efforts of the campaign’s independent stakeholders, and motivating their schools from within.
Additionally, every quarter, the Grizzlies will check in with the schools’ Head Coach of Attendance, who will be responsible for identifying at-risk students through data provided by Seeding Success. This quarterly intervention aims to identify at-risk students before they fall into the chronically absent category. The campaign slogan, RePresent. Every Day, reflects the reality that without being in school every day, and on-time, students are not able to represent their creativity, intelligence and talents in schools across Shelby County.
For more information about the campaign or to download an attendance awareness toolkit, visit representeveryday.org.
About Seeding Success
Seeding Success is a diverse collection of local organizations that come together in order to combat poor educational outcomes for Memphis area youth. Each participating organization pledges to focus on common goals, ranging from Kindergarten Readiness to Post-secondary Attainment, in order to ensure that every child graduates high school prepared for college, career, and success in life.