Perfect attendance pays off for city students

By Harold Gwin

Catching blowing money in an enclosed booth was harder than it looked.

YOUNGSTOWN — “Cool,” said third-grader Brian Murray as he stepped into the money machine at Choffin Career & Technical Center.

Seconds later, the blower was turned on and money began flying around the Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School student as he tried to grab as much as he could and stuff it into his shirt.

“I got $8,” he said later, smiling broadly.

The money machine, built by Choffin students, was used as an attendance incentive for the city school district’s fourth grading period this year.

It worked, said Rosie Marich, district director of data, who, along with Marla Joliff, educational director of pupil personnel special services, coordinated the event.

Students throughout the district were informed of the incentive plan, Marich said, and perfect attendance reached 25 percent for the important grading period, the highest rate in recent memory.

The names of all the children in each building who had perfect attendance were collected, and the name of one child was drawn to represent each school. In all, 16 were eligible to try their luck in the money machine, Marich said.

Nathaniel Crawford, a fourth-grader at Williamson Elementary School, hit the jackpot.

He was able to snatch $29 during his 30 seconds in the machine. Most grabbed considerably less, finding their effort to snatch a bill from the air was a lot tougher than it looked. Those who were able to trap bills against their clothing seemed to have the best luck.

“I had a lot of fun,” Crawford said. “I had perfect attendance. Look how much money I won,” he added, as he filmed a promo for the incentive program. The machine, the size of a telephone booth, was built by students in three Choffin programs, said Renee English, Choffin marketing coordinator.

Students in the engineering program designed it, those in heating and air conditioning attached a blower to provide the air movement to blow the money around and students in carpentry built the booth.

The blower was from an old furnace, and the materials cost only $100.

To rent a money machine would cost $350 a day, and the price of buying one is $2,000, Marich said.

The plan is to keep using the Choffin machine as an attendance incentive and actually take it around to schools in the district, she said.

The money to fill the machine was donated by local businesses and individuals, including some teachers and administrators.

More than $250 was collected, and the amount of money taken from the booth by each student was replenished before the next person entered to be sure that everyone had a shot at taking home the most money possible.

Some businesses also donated food coupons that flew along with the money in the booth.

gwin@vindy.com