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Senior Set To Graduate With Perfect Attendance

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By LIZ BLEAU

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 24, 2008

BLOOMINGDALE - When James Todd promised his daughter he would buy her a car if she never missed a day of school, he didn't think he would have to ante up.

Katelyn was in second grade then. On Thursday, she will graduate from Bloomingdale High School with a 3.9 grade-point average - and a record of perfect attendance from kindergarten through her senior year.

"I never thought she'd go all the way through without missing a day," James Todd said. "I'm very proud of her."

Katelyn said she sometimes thought about breaking her streak.

"Oh, at least once a week I wake up and feel like not going to school, but I always end up going," she said.

She credits her father for providing extra incentive.

"He would always tell me I could go to school or stay home and do chores, so I decided to go to school," she said.

Katelyn's mom, Lisa, said she told her daughter that going to school was a privilege.

"It has always been important to us to have our children go to school and to be on time. We believe it teaches ethics," she said.

Katelyn's 14-year-old brother Austin, a student a Burns Middle School, in Brandon also has a record of perfect attendance.
Lisa Todd said Katelyn's drive played a big role.

"A lot of it is just Katelyn. She wanted to make it to school. One time in middle school she didn't feel well when she got up, and I said it was up to her whether she went or not. I'm very proud of her."

Her good health helped.

James Todd recalls one day when the school nurse asked him to take Katelyn home because she was sick.

"I came and picked her up, and we went and got something to eat. She felt better and asked me to take her back to school," he said. "That was the closest she ever came to missing a whole day."

Katelyn will study to become a preschool teacher at the University of Central Florida starting this fall.

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com

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