Practice makes perfect: Ex- Barnstable student honored for never missing a day of school

As a student in Barnstable public schools Devon Harris was nothing if not determined.

When he broke his hand in his junior year, he convinced the surgeon not to operate at 7 a.m., so he wouldn’t miss school, according to his mom, Denise Brandao Harris.

That determination led him to never miss a day of school for 13 years in the Barnstable public school system.

“I like more of a routine. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it right,” he said in a telephone interview from Norfolk, Virginia, where he is stationed with the U.S. Navy.

A rare school attendance record

He continued in that vein at a military university and now as a Naval officer. He graduated from Barnstable High School in 2017, but somehow his perfect school attendance record was not recognized at graduation. That record is believed to be the only one currently known at a Cape Cod or Islands school, Barnstable School Committee member Andre King said.

Now that record is finally being honored with a plaque that hangs in the main entrance lobby at the high school. A smaller plaque was given to his mother.

Harris, now an ensign, won't be on Cape Cod to accept the recognition as he is getting ready to ship out for seven or more months on the guided-missile destroyer U.S.S. Gravely.

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Harris attended the now-closed Osterville Elementary School from kindergarten through fifth grade. He then attended Barnstable Intermediate School for sixth and seventh grades and then he graduated from Barnstable High School.

"At first it was just a fluke that he never got sick"

When reached by phone in Norfolk, Harris said that hearing about the perfect attendance recognition now was “a little surprising.”

His mother described the extent her son went to achieve his perfect attendance after doing so first at Osterville Elementary School.

“At first it was just a fluke that he never got sick,” she said. Then he told her, “I’m going to do this till I graduate.”

He was captain of the basketball team his junior and senior years, and even after a back injury his senior year, he only missed five or six weeks of basketball both years, he said. Another time, he was sent to the nurse’s office when he got a pencil in his eye, but wouldn’t leave until he was sure he got credit for a full day at school. He had to stay until after 12 p.m.

“It was a lot on me,” Brandao Harris said, as she couldn’t schedule any of his doctor’s appointments until after school. She tried many times to convince Devon to “take a day off” and not drive himself so hard, but he never relented. He didn’t even take the day off for senior skip day, she said.

The school was aware of Devon’s attendance record and was going to recognize it at graduation, but nothing happened. His mother thought it was because he got other recognition and many scholarships. Devon said it was seven. He was a straight-A student and a member of the National Honor Society. He also ran in three events in track and field and was on two other basketball teams in addition to the one at school.

Attendance at best friend's soccer games also an achievement

But Devon mentioned another achievement he was proud of. He attended the soccer games of his best friend at every home and away game all through high school.

School Committee member King, who was instrumental in getting the recognition for Harris, said he knew Devon as “a driven and hardworking student,” when he was a teacher in the school system. He also noted that former Principal Pat Clark was aware of Devon’s many achievements as he made a point of attending his graduation party.

King said Devon’s attendance record had been on his mind, so when he saw Brandao Harris at this year’s People of Action Unity Day, he suggested they do something about it. He then partnered with the high school’s John L. Reed Imani Club to make it happen.

While the School Committee deals with many challenges, King said, “it’s important to recognize students who are achieving things that are spectacular.”

Harris graduated from Norwich University in Vermont in 2021 with a degree in criminal justice. He was a community service officer on Nantucket for two summers during college. He said his original goal was to join the U.S. Air Force, but because of the back injury in high school, he needed a waiver and to wait two years before entering that branch. Instead, he joined the Navy and graduated from Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and has been on several shorter tours at sea.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Perfect attendance for Devon Harris in Barnstable schools