Good attendance cycles into reward for LPS students

Santa recently sent his elves into three Lawton Public Schools to deliver some early Christmas presents to more than 260 students with good attendance.

Assuming the role of elves were Tracie Davis, her husband John and some of their “helpers.” Tracie and John run the Stanley Bruce Davis Foundation, named for John’s brother who died in 2010. For the past four years, the foundation has purchased bikes for students at three elementary schools — Cleveland, Pat Henry and Lincoln — as rewards for students who have perfect attendance or have only missed one day during the first semester.

“We feel like this program will help some of the kids. We want to encourage students to attend academically,” Tracie Davis said. “I just think not every child is going to be great academically or athletically. It sets a standard for yourself. Tenacity has made me a success,” which is a characteristic she and her husband want to instill in the students.

“This is a way for them to have a good Christmas. It’s not a freebie. They see ‘I come to school and do a good job and there’s a reward,’” Davis said. “This is the way to start the pattern of achievement-reward.”

Davis has the numbers to back up the success of the program. According to her, when the program started four years ago, one child at Cleveland received a bike. The next year, seven children received a bike and last year 35 children received one. This year, 48 children at Cleveland were gifted a bike. The numbers at Lincoln and Pat Henry also trend up. This year, 84 students at Lincoln will receive a new bike as will 131 students at Pat Henry.

“We are seeing a 90-93 percent attendance rate in those three schools,” Davis said.

Those numbers are important to Davis.

“You can’t learn if you aren’t sitting in your seat,” she said.

Delivering 261 bikes to three schools, especially when 211 bikes were in boxes and had to be assembled, takes a fair amount of work. Davis’ helpers have spent the last three to four weeks putting the bikes together, some with training wheels and streamers.

Audrey Adu, Cleveland third grader, said this was her second year to receive a bike, along with her brother Andy and sister Adriana. Audrey says she enjoys riding her bike with her friends and plans to keep both bikes.

“I’m going to keep both if one breaks down,” she said.

Adelynn Watts, kindergartener, received her first bike on Friday. She already has one, so the new one will go to her grandmother’s house so she won’t have to transport hers back and forth.

This was the second year for Charlotte Snyder, third grade, to receive a bike. She didn’t think she would receive one since she got one last year. Last year’s bike was blue and this year’s is purple, she said.

Charlotte said she enjoys riding her bike with her friends and going through the water and around the park.

Keeping in the spirit of the season, Charlotte plans to give one of her bikes to a friend who doesn’t have one.

“I’m not greedy; I don’t need three bikes. And that’s my story,” she happily concluded.