Janeivy Urraca - Attendance Ambassador at Cleveland Elementary School

Janeivy Urraca is a senior studying Educational Studies and served as the first Attendance Ambassador from Cedar Crest College at Cleveland Elementary School in the Allentown School District. We're excited to add Cedar Crest College to the network of colleges that we work with to improve attendance among our community schools. 

Special thanks to our Cleveland Elementary School Community School Partners for making this program possible:

• PPL Corp
• Communities In Schools of the Lehigh Valley

UWGLV: What are your most successful activities as an Attendance Ambassador?

Janeivy: During my time at Cleveland I would say my most successful activity was preparing the Lunch Bunches. Every Monday for 30 minutes, I would pick up my selected students from the cafeteria and take them with me to spend some time together. Not only was I able to talk to them about attendance and encourage them to come to school but I was able to create a genuine relationship with each student.

Each week, Lunch Bunch students seemed to eagerly wait for the following Monday to come. Monday's always seemed like the day that most students dreaded but suddenly became one of their favorite days of the week. I would like to believe that because of the lessons that were taught during Lunch Bunches and the relationships we were able to form, absentee rates within my group decreased between one to four days a month. 

UWGLV: How did you make an impact on individual students?

Janeivy: I had one student who stuck out to me the most. For the sake of confidentiality, I will call him Bob. Before meeting Bob, I was nervous. I knew from his record last year that he had missed over 30 days of school and that during the current school year he had already missed more than 10 days. At this point we were only two months into the new school year. Not a single week passed where he didn’t miss at least one day of school. Long story short, the week after Lunch Bunches began and we began to work together, he had perfect attendance for the week. 

UWGLV: What were the overall outcomes and how did attendance improve?

Janeivy: Cumaliative, about 34 days of school were missed by all my students before Lunch Bunches began in September. By the end of my time at Cleveland, in October, the total amount of days missed dropped to 20. On average, absentee rates dropped from three days per month missed in September to one day in October. 

UWGLV: What have you learned from this experience?

Janeivy: My time at Cleveland was such a blessing and eye-opening experience. Enhanced through this program, I was able to see how far a student can go if they are reminded daily that they are loved, worthy, and safe. Many of the students, in both Lunch Bunches and the school in general, have some type of hardship they are dealing with but as soon as you smile at them or ask them how they are doing, their faces light up with joy. I know my focus was only targeted on improving attendance but after spending time with these students, it was evident that attendance was only the symptom to the root issue. Reminding them that there is hope and that they are enough made such a huge difference in their lives.