Considering illness, vacations, doctor appointments, dental appointments and the host of other circumstances that might cause a person to miss school, it is difficult for most students to attain perfect attendance for an entire school year. But that is exactly what Ariana Davoodi has done…13 times.
Davoodi, 18, a senior at Flower Mound High School, has had perfect attendance from preschool all the way through the second semester of her senior year, and said she feels it is quite an accomplishment.
“I’m proud of myself,” Davoodi said. “I can’t think of any other student in my class who can say they have never missed a day of school since starting preschool.”
Davoodi, who is also in the Marching Band and serves as the Science Club President at Flower Mound, said she began to realize at a very early age that perfect attendance was achievable.
“I remember at Old Settlers elementary school, they use to give us an ice cream party at the end of the year for perfect attendance, so we always tried not to miss a day for ice cream,” Davoodi said. “Then I watched my older brothers and sister have perfect attendance, and it got to be a competition between all of us.”
Davoodi’s mother, Margie, said perfect attendance is actually somewhat of a family tradition in her household.
“My oldest son Zack, and daughter Shohreh, graduated as Ariana did with perfect attendance since preschool,” Margie said. “My other son, Aara, missed one day in middle school, and my kids never let him live it down. Can you imagine hassling a child for missing only one day?”
Margie said strong attendance was instilled in her at an early age, and said it is something she and her husband have passed on to their children.
“In all honesty, I grew up watching my father going to work every day, no matter how he felt,” Margie said. “He was very committed to his employer. So I guess that mind set has been passed down from generation to generation. Even at college, my older children very rarely miss class or a day at their jobs.
“It also helped that their father is a doctor and mother a nurse. We could catch the illnesses early and treat them. My children will remember me when I am gone as the mother who lined them up in the kitchen every year for their flu shots.”
Ariana Davoodi said there was one occasion where she thought she might have to miss school, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
“I got in a bad car accident this year on the way to school,” Davoodi said. “So I ended up getting there late that day.”
Davoodi has a 3.58 grade point average at FMHS and will attend the University of Oklahoma next fall where she plans to major in Physical Therapy.
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