Administrator

Those are the moments that make school interesting, fun and form years of memories to be cherished long after graduation, the students said.

So, 10 of them, hailing from different public high schools from throughout the county, created a public service announcement that will hit local airwaves next week.

Their pitch: To encourage their fellow students to attend school regularly.

"And you thought school wasn't fun?" pops on the screen after several other vignettes of everyday comedic events.

The student-produced segment is part of a broader campaign by the Merced County Office of Education called "Every Student -- Every Day," that is aimed at decreasing truancy countywide.

Several 30-second spots by Lee Andersen, county superintendent of schools, have been airing on KYOS, 1480 AM, and other Radio Merced stations since the winter.

"Did you know that every day a student misses from school puts them two days behind their classmates?" Andersen asks in the PSAs.

Attendance is that all-encompassing issue in education. Schools are paid by the state and national governments based on their average daily attendance. Student test scores are highly correlated, if not directly connected to a student's attendance.

"It's direct and indirect at the same time," said 18-year-old Myriam Cavalza about the benefits of attending school. Better attendance leads to more money which enriches the school experience, she elaborated.

The students learned about all facets of school attendance, funding and achievement throughout the production process. They had to create several concepts for the spots, back up their themes with data and pitch the ideas to leaders at MCOE.

They filmed all of the four hours of footage needed for the spot on July 14.

"We're good actors, that's why," said director Maria Cazarez, 17, of the quick production timeline.

The soon-to-be junior and senior students studied at East Campus Educational Center this summer in a migrant youth education program supported by the Merced Union High School District, Central Valley Opportunity Center and the migrant education program at the MCOE.

They worked with Shawn Bockoven, station manager, and Eric Fickenwirth, producer and editor, at METV, a public access channel run by the Merced County Office of Education.

Mark Kaanapu, Merced College head football coach, and Charles Ogletree, a Harvard professor and renowned legal scholar from Merced, have both agreed to record similar public service announcements.

The students who put the PSA together come from Atwater, Merced, Golden Valley, Buhach Colony, Le Grand and Livingston high schools.