Sweet Rewards for Showing Up

Atreya Buss

October 7th, 2026

Cover Photo: Maggie Herring

This year Waterloo High School students are getting more acknowledgement and rewards for showing up to school each day. WHS is now trying to start monthly attendance challenges to encourage students to show up to school. The staff is trying to get some support and help from businesses throughout Waterloo. Ms. Maggie Herring explained this idea was thought of over the summer. The school tried to map out ideas for the monthly challenges. They ended up sending sponsorship letters to Waterloo’s local businesses asking who would like to help celebrate their students' attendance. One of the first businesses to respond was Oh Sugar! ice cream. Oh Sugar! serves ice cream and shaved ice plus other sweet combinations. This family-owned business has been involved in the community since 2022. Oh Sugar! is very involved in the community, especially with the high school. They have donated their ice cream in the past for students to purchase for themselves. “They generously donated all of the ice cream and even had everything scooped and ready to go for us, which was such a huge help.” Ms. Herring was pleased to hear this friendly partnership keeps willing to donate and be a part of the community for the students. This first month's challenge gave the reward of ice cream to the students. The result of this was that 70% of WHS students were recognized for their August attendance. Ms. Herring believes attendance is very important because she believes that it benefits the students from being present in the school environment and building relationships while participating in activities and engaging in the learning process. “ the impact on our school community is huge because so much of a student’s success come with simply being at school" Herring explains “when students are here, they are building connections with their peers and staff, becoming more involved in the school community, engaging in learning, and building confidence in what they know and can do …. it shows our students that our entire community values their education and their presence at school” Herring said, “When our school and community partners can come together around that shared belief, I think it sends a really powerful message to our students that showing up matters and that there is an entire community cheering them on.” These attendance challenges will continue throughout the rest of the school year, with different business support each month. September's sponsor is from our local movie theater, RMC. The school planned popcorn parties for randomly selected classes that had excellent attendance and were provided with the theater's popcorn throughout that month. With the support of these local businesses, WHS is making attendance become more than just counting days. It's sending the message that showing up matters and the community is willing to show that they support the students.

Meet the Author

Atreya Buss

Atreya is in her senior year at Waterloo High School. She is a returning member in Journalism to fill her interests in writing, media organization, and storytelling. Her interests include in-depth stories and popular real world situations. After high school she is trying to pursue a career in the business field. Outside of Journalism, Atreya is on the schools bowling team and involved in both Student Council & Renaissance.

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