If you think managing to show up for class for an entire week is an achievement, think again. This teenager just graduated high school with perfect attendance since kindergarten — that’s a whopping 2,340 school days.
When Justice Fleming of Huntersville, North Carolina, was a seven-year-old second grader, he decided that he loved school so much that he wouldn’t miss a single day.
“Not many people can say that they’ve been able to have perfect attendance for 13 consecutive years,” he said.
Justice’s journey to a spotless attendance record was not without its challenges. But luckily, illnesses only took place on weekends and during school breaks. His closest call was during junior year in high school when he broke an ankle in a physical education class. He hobbled around school all day until he was able to get to a hospital. And despite being given a doctor’s note to stay home for five days, Justice went to school the next day. “I could keep my foot elevated at school as easily as I could at home,” he said.
Justice has been given well-deserved recognition for his outstanding feat.
The university-bound young man does not plan to continue pursuing perfect attendance in college. But he is encouraging his younger sister Shelby to follow in his footsteps until she, too, graduates from high school. And his advice is simple:
“Try your best and expect your teachers to often ask you why you are at school when all of your classmates are not. Be prepared for some goodhearted teasing from your friends when they are all skipping school for ‘senior skip day’ and you are going to school like usual.”
