Created three years ago by Wayne City teachers Kelli Keen and Eric Lingafelter, the Cash for Attendance program positively motivates high school students to attend school. Commonly called Spin for Cash, the program allows students with perfect attendance from the previous week to be entered into a drawing to win money.  Each week, one student from the junior and senior classes and one student from the freshman and sophomore classes are selected using a random number generator similar to a digital raffle. The selected students go to the office to spin a prize wheel for a chance to win cash. Each section of the wheel increases by $3 each week until it is selected, at which point it resets to $3.

Many students view Cash for Attendance as a fun way to encourage consistent attendance. Keen and Lingafelter developed the idea after attending meetings focused on improving social-emotional learning and student motivation. They were eager to share the program with the school.

“Spin for Cash motivates students to come to school and has increased the percentage of students attending each year,” Keen said. “It is fun to see students excited about the program, and it is nice to hear them ask when we are spinning. They seem genuinely excited each week to see if they are the winner.”

The biggest winner this year was Pryce Collins, and he won $64. “I was excited that I got the money, so I went home and told my parents. I spent most of the money going up town for lunch,” Collins said.

Some students like Kayne Gregory have yet to win. They come to school every week hoping to finally be chosen. “I have been coming to school everyday, and I still have been waiting for my money,” Gregory said.