Too many Gainesville students miss too much school. Can creative videos help turn the tide?

Cleveland Tinker, Gainesville Sun
·3 min read

Gainesville For All is searching for the next video star by way of a video contest it is sponsoring.

The criteria to win the contest will be who can produce a video that best explains why school attendance is important, said James Lawrence, executive director of GNV4All, which operates the Gainesville Empowerment Zone Family Learning Center on the campus of Metcalf Elementary School in northeast Gainesville.

The deadline to enter the contest is Jan. 31. The cash prizes will include $250 for the first-place winner, $150 for the second-place winner and $100 for the third-place winner.

GNV4ALL was launched by The Gainesville Sun. The award-winning initiative eventually spun off as an independent agency with its own nonprofit charter in 2021. The agency seeks to find long-term solutions to long-term inequities that often fall along racial lines.

“We decided to have this video contest because of the worsening of the school attendance problem in the Alachua County School District, especially among low-performing African-American elementary school students in the district,” Lawrence said.

The contest will be used as part of a public service campaign to increase awareness about the importance of school attendance, Lawrence said.

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When students, especially elementary students, do not attend school and be at school on time, their success in school is drastically reduced and helps lead to the grave academic achievement gap that exists in Alachua County between Black and white students, which has been well-documented as the worst in Florida, if not the nation, Lawrence said.

“We need to increase the amount of time students are in their seats in classrooms, especially low-performing African-American elementary school students,” Lawrence said. “If students are not in school, how are we going to improve the achievement gap.”

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School attendance is not just a local problem, but a national problem. However, it is Black students who suffer the most, Lawrence said, adding that GNV4ALL is looking for a public relations firm to do pro bono work with the organization’s public service campaign to bring awareness to the issue.

“This is such a huge problem, and it is just getting worse,” Lawrence said. “It’s also a problem in the suburbs, and not just urban areas.”

The contest rules include that it is only open to K-12 students in the Alachua County School District, and individuals of teams or four or less. The videos must be captured on a MP4 or MOV format and should creatively highlight the healthy decisions that young people make daily, including positive activities and behaviors.

Entries will be screened by members of the GNV4ALL Education Team and shared on social media platforms and local traditional media. Once all videos are screened, the top three will be announced via Facebook Live in early February as part of a public service campaign, according to a GNV4ALL press release.

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Diyonne McGraw, chair of the Alachua County School Board, said she wholeheartedly supports the efforts of GNV4ALL's video contest to increase awareness about the importance of school attendance. School attendance is the most important factor when it comes to a student succeeding in school, she said.

Fourth-grade student Angelstar Phillips, 10, second from right, laughs while sitting with classmates at Marjorie Rawlings Elementary during the father cheering event organized by the Fatherhood Initiative of Gainesville For All in Gainesville on May 5, 2022. GNV4ALL is sponsoring a video contest about the importance of school attendance. (Lawren Simmons/Special to the Sun)

Working with parents to get the message out about the importance of school attendance is very important, and the school district applauds a supports the efforts of GNV4ALL doing so, McGraw said.

"Our children are our future and we ought to make sure they have a solid foundation to be the best they can be," McGraw said. "The key is making sure parents are engaged in the education of their children. We can't wait for parents to come to us. We must show parents early on in the education process that we are their partners."

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: School attendance is focus of new Gainesville For All video contest