‘Miss School--Miss Out’ Message Designed to Draw Students

Great American First Savings Bank and the state Department of Education on Thursday announced a statewide program designed to improve school attendance among California’s 686,000 7th- and 8th-grade students.

Dubbed “Miss School--Miss Out,” the program will offer $1,000 savings bonds to 58 students who are absent no more than twice between the start of school and May 15. A drawing for the prizes will be held May 22.

The initiative is targeted at 7th- and 8th-graders, 20% of whom are absent from school on any given day.

“Patterns of pathological or deviant behavior start in junior high school,” state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig said after announcing the project at a press conference at Roosevelt Junior High School. “That’s when the kid starts popping off, dropping out, using drugs.”

The junior high school years also are the time when students develop the study habits they will take with them into high school.

The goals of the Great American program are to double the number of students with perfect attendance from 1% to 2%, recognize other students with low absentee rates, instill pride in students who regularly attend class, and create a model program that can be copied by other corporations across the nation.

Gordon Luce, chairman and chief executive officer of Great American, said the bank has contributed more than $100,000 to sponsor the program. The bank is advertising the slogan on billboards, posters, bumper stickers, television and in promotions stuffed into bank statements.

Guides to promoting better attendance will be distributed to teachers and principals. The bank’s branch offices will be encouraged to work with nearby junior high schools on the program. Teachers also will be encouraged to hold discussions of the importance of regular school attendance, and schools will be advised to involve parents by sending letters home describing the program.