SAN BENITO — As each ticket was drawn from the bucket, high school students Michael H. Butler and Pedro Puente Perez stood anxiously nearby.
Their names were the remaining two that had not been selected in the contest yet, which meant they still had a chance to win the grand prize.
San Benito CISD school board members and faculty hosted the district’s first Perfect Attendance Giveaway yesterday, outside of the high school.
When Superintendant of Schools Dr. Nate Carman pulled out the remaining ticket, the winner’s parents immediately walked toward him with tears of joy in their eyes and gave their son a hug.
Pedro, a graduating senior from San Benito High School, was the lucky student who was able to ride to his graduation last night in his brand new 2018 Ford Fiesta.
“It feels amazing to win something this huge. I’m going to take it to my graduation,” he said with a smile. “I’m happy I won the car because it will help me save money for college.”
How the contest worked
High school students who had perfect attendance for a six-week period earned a ticket for the drawing.
San Benito High School Principal Maria Isabel Marichalar-Solis said it was a “huge competition.”
The high school has 2,100 students and every student had an opportunity to enter tickets if they had perfect attendance for a six-week period.
Each student was able to enter up to six tickets in the perfect attendance giveaway competition.
The day before the giveaway, five finalists were drawn from hundreds of tickets.
Pedro said it was easy for him to earn the tickets because he loved going to school, but he wasn’t too sure he was going to win the car.
“One thing’s for sure though,” he said with a laugh. “My heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest.”
Pedro’s mother, Viviana Perez, said she was very excited and happy her son won the car.
“I’m very proud of him and thankful for this opportunity because I never thought in my life I would be able to buy a car like this,” she said as tears formed in the corners of her eyes.
Viviana said Pedro plans to study at Texas State Technical College for two years and then work.
“He’s always been a good boy,” she said. “He doesn’t want me to work anymore because he says I’ve worked so hard for him and that it’s his turn to work hard for me.”
Marichalar-Solis believes the giveaway is an amazing experience to offer to students.
“As principal of San Benito High School, I’m very excited for our senior who received this car,” she said. “When I was in college, I was without a car so now I know this student has this opportunity to get himself to college with that worry behind him.”
The cost of the car has been paid for by the school district, but Pedro will be responsible for paying all tax, title and license fees.
According to Carman, the money to purchase the car came from increased state funds that the district receives for its increased average daily attendance.
“We calculated and estimated how much we would get back if we increased our attendance,” Carman explained. “And from those funds, we purchased the car as well as the other district-wide incentives.”
Why did the district create the giveaway?
According to Marichalar-Solis, Carman and the school board came up with the idea at the beginning of the school year.
The goal of the giveaway was to help increase attendance.
“We reminded them every day that their education matters, they matter and with them not present in school, they’re not gaining the skills necessary to be college-ready, career-ready or workforce ready,” Marichalar-Solis explained.
According to Carman, the district’s student attendance improved about one-half of a percentage point over last year.
“At the high school, we had the best attendance among the middle schools and elementary schools for four six-weeks,” Marichalar-Solis said. “The last six-weeks were a little bit off, but it motivated the students to be here.”
MORE INFO
PERFECT ATTENDANCE PRIZES AND WINNERS
• Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones — Wendy E. Flores
• 23GB iPad — Savannah L. Marroquin
• HP Convertible Laptop — Erick Cantu
• Xbox One X Bundle — Michael H. Butler
• 2018 Ford Fiesta — Pedro Puente Perez
