Illnesses, two broken bones and an abscessed tooth didn’t stop her from attending school.
Jayme Yeater broke her foot in kindergarten, broke her arm in fifth grade and put up with a tooth issue for an entire school day in fourth grade, and never once missed a day of school.
She recently graduated from Greenwood Community High School with 13 years of perfect attendance.
Yeater realized early on that missing school and making up the work later was harder than just going to school. She also credits a stroke of luck that had injuries and sickness come on the weekends, allowing her to get treatment without missing class.
She beamed with pride when her kindergarten teacher gave her a certificate saying she never missed a day in her first year. Later, when she was recognized for never missing a day of elementary school after fifth grade, she realized that 13 years of perfect attendance was within reach.
“I didn’t want to miss things,” Yeater said.
The idea was likely planted in her head in kindergarten, her mother Julia Yeater said.
Her parents read a newspaper article touting the same achievement by a high school students and her father joked that could one day be Jayme, Julia Yeater said.
Maintaining perfect attendance became a bigger deal in middle school and high school. Her middle school and high school did not recognize perfect attendance at year-end award banquets like her elementary school did, but the school district has a rule that students who do not attend class cannot participate in any extracurricular activities, Julia Yeater said.
Jayme Yeater was involved in marching band and the swim team and never wanted to miss practice. She saw how much harder someone had to work to regain what they missed in practice and how that one person could throw off the work of others.
She decided that missing a day for any reason was not worth it, she said.
“I always liked to be at practice so I didn’t miss anything,” she said. “Missing is more harm than it is helpful.”
Strokes of luck and a high pain tolerance helped her keep her attendance record up over 13 years. She broke her arm on a Sunday and was up late in the emergency room that night, but still made it to school the next day.
And she spent all day at school with an abscessed tooth in fourth grade, not telling anyone until the end of the day.
Colds and other sickness came on the weekends, when she had enough time to recover and get to school.
This fall, she takes her perfect record to the University of Indianapolis, where she will be attending college.
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Name: Jayme Yeater
School: Greenwood Community High School
Claim to fame: 13 years perfect attendance
College: University of Indianapolis
Major: Undecided
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