IB History celebrates student without tardies for 50 days
Senior history class holds pizza party for end of semester, celebrates student’s improved attendance
Senior Patrick Djerf smiles as he opens the pizza box during a pizza party in his history class. Djerf won this celebration by being on time 50 days in a row, a challenge that was set between him and his history teacher in October.
February 3, 2020
As senior Patrick Djerf sat in his IB History HL class eating pizza, he acknowledged that despite the 50 days he spent making sure he got to class on time, his perfect record broke shortly after the challenge ended.
“I think I’m better at (being on time), even now that the 50 days have ended,” Djerf said. “I’ve only been late once since then. Granted, it’s been a week, but late once a week is still better than what it was before.”
According to history teacher Carly Kregness, Djerf suggested that if he could get to class on time 50 days in a row, the whole class would get to celebrate.
“He offered the challenge that if he was on time 50 days in a row, we can have a party,” Kregness said. “I accepted that challenge back in October and he did it.”
Djerf said that his biggest challenge wasn’t what he expected when he first took on the challenge of being on time 50 days in a row.
“I love to drink water and I would always have an empty water bottle by the end of fifth hour, so I would need to fill it up again, and the water bottle filler outside of B2 takes a very long time to fill up a bottle,” Djerf said.
I’ve only been late once since then. Granted, it’s been a week, but late once a week is still better than what it was before. — Patrick Djerf
According to Kregness, it’s unlikely she would agree to the same deal again, but she could understand how others could use a similar tactic to improve the attendance in their classes.
“It would be more effective if everyone in the class had to be on time. As it happened in this class, there was only one chronically tardy student,” Kregness said. “In some classes, in order for it to work you have to apply it to every student.”
Djerf said the 50 day challenge has changed the way he thinks about his punctuality in all classes, not just history, and has given him a greater appreciation for the school.
“I do definitely think about being on time to history more now,” Djerf said. “(The challenge) is a nice example of how much the teachers in this building care about their students. Not everyone notices it all the time or not everyone appreciates them as much as they should, but we’re really lucky to have the staff we do here.”
