Due: 5th of the following month (e.g. September attendance due October 5)
Why:
A record of attendance is one of the most important forms we request every month.
We use attendance forms to:
ü Show positive impact on school attendance rates: schools support afterschool programming in large part because we improve school attendance. Kids can’t do well in school if they don’t show up. When a child knows they have Camp Fire after school that day, they want to go to school. We want to show the positive impact we have on school attendance (and therefore academic success) and to do that, we need good records.
ü Track emblems earned: a child earns emblems by participating in club activities. Attendance records verify a child participated in activities that earn them emblems and other awards.
ü Track participation trends: Camp Fire wants to understand club trends over the course of a year. We look at things like: when is club participation highest and lowest during the year? Do participants stay in once they join or is there much turnover? etc.
How: (see example included)
At the 1st club meeting:
ü At the top, fill in your name, the month & year, your site (school or location) and your club level (i.e. Little Stars, Starflight, Adventure or Discovery).
ü Ask and list the children’s first and last names and their grades.
ü Also record the gender and ethnicity of each participant. It’s very important we collect demographics on the children to know whom we are serving.
Note: For ethnicity, make your best guess initially. Once you get completed
registration forms on the child, you can make any necessary corrections.
Though simplistic, you can use the following abbreviations:
C=Caucasian or white; AA=African-American; HI=Hispanic; AI=American Indian; A=Asian-American; if a child is more than one ethnicity you can list them all. For example, if they are part Caucasian and part African-American you can write: C/AA.
ü Fill in the club dates in the column above each week. If your club meets on Wednesdays, then the date of the 1st Wednesday of the month (e.g. Sept. 2) will go above “1st week” and the date of the 2nd Wednesday of the month (Sept. 9) will go above “2nd week.”
ü Make sure you mark an “x” under the correct column. “1st week” means the 1st week of the month and not the 1st week you have club that month.
ü Use the Trail and Meeting Plan columns to help you keep track of which kids were present to earn which emblems in club. Note: This isn’t meant to document your lesson plans. There is a monthly curriculum form for that. It just assists you in keeping track of who earns emblems.
At each regular club meeting:
ü Whenever possible choose a child to take attendance to provide opportunities for youth to contribute towards the running of their club. A good way to choose a youth:
Write youth club roles or jobs on popsicle sticks (possible roles include: attendance taker, lead opening, lead closing, clean-up helper, club assistant, etc.) and have students draw a popsicle stick at the beginning of each club time to determine who will play leadership roles for the day. Whoever draws “attendance taker” will take attendance that day.
ü After a child is selected, provide them with the attendance sheet and show them the correct column to make marks. Have them make mark an “x” next to all who are present that day.
ü Remember to add anyone who is new. Record their name, gender, grade and ethnicity.
To submit completed forms by the 5th you have several options:
ü Bring completed form to the office (706 S Boston Ave.) and put them in the CBC Program Coordinator’s box.
ü Fax the completed form to: 918.592.3473.
ü Complete an electronic version of the form or scan the form and email to Emily Pauli at:
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