Los Angeles Students Win Brand New Cars As A Reward For Their Perfect Attendance Records

Why Los Angeles School District Gave These Students Brand New Cars

In Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), showing up to class can get you more than just good grades. In the case of two lucky seniors, it got them brand new cars.

Seniors Vanessa Umana, of Francis Polytechnic High School, and Euri Tanaka, of San Pedro High School, found out they won new cars last week in a contest for students with perfect attendance records, reports the Los Angeles Daily News. The yearlong contest, titled the “LAUSD I’m In School Attendance Challenge,” is designed to encourage students to show up to class and rewards those with perfect attendance records.

While Umana and Tanaka took home the grand prizes -- two $18,000 Chevrolet Sonics –- other students with perfect attendance were eligible to win iPads, bicycles, gift cards and movie tickets.

Naturally, Umana, who will be attending UC San Diego in the fall, was thrilled with her reward.

“I was so excited," said Umana, per the Los Angeles Daily News. "I felt like I was dreaming."

Still, she insisted that her education, not the prospect of winning a car, had motivated her to strive for perfect attendance.

"Missing a day of school was like missing a whole lesson," said Umana.

The district partnered with Clear Channel Media and Entertainment and several corporations for the challenge, which appears to have been successful in promoting attendance. According to the official LAUSD blog, 273,082 students had a perfect attendance record for the month of December, up significantly from October’s count of 188,285.

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